


Double Trouble

by xXdreameaterXx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 20:50:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 47,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14089401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXdreameaterXx/pseuds/xXdreameaterXx
Summary: Clara genuinely loves her life and being a teacher, yet every now and then, even Clara Oswald needs a break from being a good girl and she switches roles with her twin sister Bonnie.One night, while she is out pretending to be someone she's not, she meets a strange inventor who calls himself the Doctor. However, what starts out as a fun night soon turns into a complicated mess because Clara is destined to meet the Doctor again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another fic :D I hope you'll enjoy it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back with a new fic :D Happy reading!

The Doctor loaded the bags into the boot and closed the lid with a loud bang when the moody face of his teenage daughter came back into view and she was pouting at him. Rosie had a talent for that but today, it wouldn't help her. The Doctor was determined.

“Stop that,” he growled in her direction. “Your mother is looking forward to a weekend with you.”

Besides, the Doctor needed a moment to himself to work on her birthday present and since Rosie loved to hang out in his workshop, it was better to have her out of the house completely.

“It's the last weekend before school starts,” his daughter argued. “And I lived with mum for three years. I think we need a break from each other. Also, you're going to need help with that security lock you're building.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Nice try,” he replied. “But I'm not going to work on that today, so get in the car.”

“What are you gonna work on?” Rosie enquired curiously, her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyes inquisitive. She was smart and somehow, the Doctor thought she knew exactly what he was up to.

“Car,” he growled. “Now. Your mother is going to kill me if we're late. You know how she hates to be kept waiting.”

Rosie rolled her eyes. “Fiiiine,” she drawled and then turned on the spot and stomped off to her side of the car.

The Doctor checked if the boot had closed properly and then followed his daughter's example and made his way towards the car door. When he started the engine and drove off in the direction of Missy's house, the Doctor couldn't help but think that he was very much looking forward to a quiet weekend. He loved his daughter and he loved spending time with her, but Rosie had only recently moved in with him over the summer holidays and he wasn't quite used to having a teenage daughter in the house full time. It wasn't that he minded having breakfast with her and having her help him with his inventions or the evenings spent at the PlayStation, but the Doctor quite welcomed some alone time right now.

They spoke very little on the way to Missy's house where Rosie had lived for the past three years after their divorce and even now, even though the Doctor was quite at home in his new house, it still felt strange coming back to the place that used to be his home until he and Missy had decided to go their separate ways. Located on the opposite end of London and still towering over the neighbourhood in an almost threatening way, his old home looked like a mansion that belonged to an evil witch and not a family and he had to admit that it sort of suited Missy. No, he really preferred his new house in Shoreditch and the Doctor believed that it would be a good change for Rosie. The area was lively and her new school just around a couple of corners. They'd be happy there, happier than here.

“Ambrosia!” Missy called from the door as soon as they had stepped out of the car and when the Doctor glanced at their daughter, he could see that she was rolling her eyes again. Maybe it was a thing teenagers did, but he felt like his daughter was rolling her eyes constantly.

“Mum, don't call me that!” Rosie complained and the Doctor felt like agreeing with her. Almost thirteen years later, he still hadn't forgiven Missy for going over his head and registering her name without his consent. He had had so many lovely names picked out, so many names that would have been a lot more suitable for his wonderful daughter and his then-wife had picked _Ambrosia_. The Doctor still shuddered when someone mentioned her full name even now.

“Yeah, bring out the custard,” he muttered under his breath.

“It's been twelve years, can you cut out the custard references already?” Missy snapped at him while she went to embrace their daughter.

While they were still hugging, Rosie remarked: “Almost thirteen.”

Missy smiled at their daughter when she let her go. “About that,” she said, “I believe tomorrow would be an ideal day to go shopping for potential birthday presents.”

Rosie's face lit up and the Doctor could tell that the prospect of spending the weekend with her mother suddenly didn't seem so bad anymore – and that eased his conscience a little.

“You're going to turn thirteen,” her mother went on. “That is high time to stop treating your dad as your fashion idol.”

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle because he knew exactly what was about to follow.

“Actually,” Rosie replied while she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, “I have my eye on a pair of sunglasses. The same ones Dad wears. I think they'd suit me.”

Missy inhaled deeply and turned her head until she was staring straight at him. “Four weeks! She's been living with you for four weeks!”

The Doctor merely shrugged in response.

His ex-wife uttered a heavy sigh. “Alright, why don't you go inside, Ambrosia? I'm just gonna have a little chat with your father.”

“Don't call me that!” Rosie protested, but after waving him goodbye and the Doctor waving back at her, she grabbed her bags and vanished inside the house while her mother climbed down the steps to be at eye level with him.

Missy stopped right in front of him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking a little stern and he had no idea what was going to happen next or why she wanted to talk to him. They had been married for ten years and before that, they had been friends, but after Rosie's birth, they had drifted apart further and further and now, it seemed as if they had run out of things to talk about except for their daughter. It wasn't as if they hated each other although, maybe they did harbour a little resentment for wasting each other's time for so long, but on the grand scheme of things, the Doctor felt nothing for Missy whatsoever and he assumed that the feeling was mutual.

“How are things with Ambrosia?” she wanted to know.

The Doctor inhaled deeply. “Things with _Rosie_ are fine,” he said, stressing the name she preferred. “I think she settled in quite well and it's not like it's a strange house. She's been there almost every weekend for the past three years.”

“Yes, but does she eat other things besides fast food? Does she clean her room? Will you help her with her homework when school starts next week?” Missy enquired. “For the past few years, you've only ever had her as a weekend guest. You have to make sure she's taken care of and doesn't neglect her education.”

The Doctor chuckled in reply. “I believe you were always the one driving to McDonald's because you couldn't be bothered to cook,” he snorted. “Besides, I've always helped her with her homework and her room is, well, moderately clean. Certainly cleaner than my own. We'll be fine and you can check on her every weekend. Trust me, I know how to take care of my daughter.”

Missy squinted her eyes at him as if she still wasn't quite convinced. “Alright,” she said eventually. “But you have to promise me one thing. This new school is a fresh start for her and you know how they kept picking on her at the last one-”

“Which was because you told them her full name,” the Doctor interrupted her. Was he still bitter about the fact that his daughter was called Ambrosia? Possibly.

“Just don't do anything to embarrass her,” Missy insisted. “Like showing up in your pyjamas.”

“These aren't pyjamas!”

Missy raised her eyebrows at him and the Doctor uttered a groan. They weren't even married anymore and she still criticised his clothes. “Alright, fine, I promise I won't embarrass her. Now, can I go?”

“Not yet,” she replied and then cleared her throat. Missy hesitated to say what the matter was which meant that he probably wouldn't like it very much. “I've met someone.”

“You've met someone?” the Doctor asked, repeating her words slowly and wondering why Missy would feel the need to tell him about a person she met.

“As in I'm _dating_ someone,” she said. “And I was wondering if you had someone as well cause I realized we never really talked about that since the divorce.”

The Doctor inhaled sharply. He hated talking about his love life, not that there was actually anything to talk about. “I've been focusing on my work,” he argued. “You know, I recently sold one of my patents to-”

“I didn't ask about your work,” Missy cut him off. “I asked if you're shagging someone.”

“I'm not-,” he broke off and lowered his voice before he continued just in case Rosie was somehow still listening in, “shagging anyone.”

“Well, I just wanted to say that that's off the table while Ambrosia is staying with you, so this weekend is the perfect chance to go out and get some.”

“Missy, I'm really not-”

“The type? God, I know,” she replied, rolling her eyes. So that was where Rosie had that from. “But seriously, you need a woman in your life even if it's just for a night. Put on some clothes that do not look like you just crawled out of bed, shave that horrible beard, put down your screwdriver and go to a bar and pick up a woman far too young for yourself and get laid before the effects of the tequila wear off.”

The Doctor knitted his eyebrows at her. “Is that what you did while Rosie was staying with me every weekend?” he demanded to know.

His ex-wife shrugged. “Maybe I did that a couple of times,” she replied. “And it was a lot of fun, so put down your tools and go out because from Sunday night on, you'll be in charge of a teenage girl and all of her woes for two weeks. Trust me, you'll pray for a night out.”

“Was that all?” he asked.

In reply, Missy grinned at him. “Yes. Have a nice weekend. In the meantime, I'll try to undo the damage you did to our daughter. A space print hoodie? Really?”

“Goodbye, Missy,” the Doctor hissed at her and turned around to head back to his car.

On his way back home, he wondered if it was actually in Rosie's best interest to spend every single weekend with her mother. It wasn't that Missy was a bad parent, she was just a very usual one even though she loved their daughter, but from her early childhood on, Rosie had always leaned towards him a little more. Well, the Doctor thought that only time would tell and maybe now that she was entering her teenage years, Rosie would be glad of her mother's company and advice.

As for his weekend plans, the Doctor was determined to finish his daughter's birthday present before she got back. Like any normal teenager, Rosie had asked for a dog, but the Doctor had something infinitely better and more practical in mind. As for the evenings, maybe he would indeed follow Missy's advice if he felt like it. He hadn't been out for a drink in a very long time, but he certainly wouldn't take a girl home. That idea was properly ridiculous.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your sweet first comments :) Now, you wanted to know what Clara is up to?

Clara applied her sister's red lipstick with painstaking accuracy and observed the results in the mirror for a long moment. She took a step back, examining her hair and makeup with an approving nod. There was only one word to describe her look and that word was _perfect_. She was going to turn some heads tonight, she was sure of that.

“This dress is amazing!” Bonnie exclaimed as she joined her in the bathroom and Clara noticed that out of the selection she had brought, her sister had chosen a bright red mini dress and it suited Bonnie just like it suited Clara. Well, it would be odd if it didn't, seeing as they were identical twins. “Can I keep it?”

“You can borrow it,” Clara replied and turned to look into the mirror again. She hadn't chosen a dress yet, but she knew that it would have to be equally amazing. Bonnie's wardrobe wasn't anything like her own and she owned some daring pieces, there had to be something in there that was perfect for a night out.

“Are you sure it's not too much for a staff party?” her sister asked as she leaned closer to the mirror started to apply her makeup.

Clara doubled-checked by looking at her sister once more and it was almost as if she was looking at her own reflection – her reflection that wore her clothes and borrowed her lipstick.

“Positive,” she answered. “Trust me, when teachers meet to celebrate, they go all out. Especially if it's the end of the summer break after a relaxing holiday.”

It was an old game, one they had been playing since early childhood. Clara doubted that there was a pair of twins out there who hadn't played this game of switching roles and she and Bonnie had constantly driven their teachers mad by either wearing the same outfit to class or cheekily pretending to be the other. Only most twins grew out of it. Clara and Bonnie were both thirty now and still enjoying the perks of being somebody else every now and then. It was almost like leading a secret double life and neither of them had the intention to give it up anytime soon. Besides, it came in handy when it involved a staff dinner party Clara really didn't want to go to.

Even though she loved being a good girl and a teacher, some days, Clara just wanted to cast off that skin and be just a little bit naughty like her sister. A part of her admired her sister for her reckless nature and her job at a private security company and her boldness when it came to men. Clara was only bold when she was pretending to be Bonnie. In turn, Bonnie enjoyed slipping into Clara's skin because it meant she could hang out with people who would never talk to her otherwise. Her sister didn't have a lot of friends.

“Is there anything I should know?” she asked her.

Clara shrugged. “Not really. I haven't been in contact with my colleagues over the summer break and I don't get why we have to have a dinner party when we're all gonna see each other again on Monday anyway.”

“Good,” Bonnie concluded with a smile before she smacked her lips at her reflection. Without her trademark red lipstick, Bonnie looked like Clara even without the dress. “I think I remember most about your colleagues from the summer fête. But I'm not entirely sure about your science teacher.”

“Miss Quill?” Clara enquired while she applied her mascara. “What about her?”

“I think she saw through me. She definitely gave me a couple of weird looks.”

She snorted in reply. “She always gives me weird looks, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. She just hates me for some reason.”

When Clara glanced at her sister, she noticed that Bonnie was smirking. Then, she shrugged. “I could rough her up a little if she's mean to you.”

“Don't,” Clara growled back at her.

“It's really not a problem,” Bonnie remarked. “I mean, I used to do it all the time when we were children. Remember Betty Brown?”

Clara rolled her eyes. Of course, she remembered Betty Brown. How could she not remember the worst bully she had ever faced and back then, she had been grateful for Bonnie's intervention. “You can't rough up my colleague, but it would be good if you were a little less nice towards her.”

“Consider it done,” her sister said. “I'll just spit in her food when no one's looking.”

Clara chuckled at the visual of that and at last, decided to have a look at Bonnie's wardrobe. With her sister following her on her heels, Clara made her way towards the bedroom and opened the large wardrobe that contained all of Bonnie's designer clothes. She immediately spotted a lovely little black dress. That, in combination with her flawless hair and makeup, would definitely get someone's attention.

“What's your plan for the night? You never said.”

“Oh, well, you know,” Clara replied with a shrug as she pulled the dress from the wire hanger to examine the fabric. It was soft and a little see-through at the most convenient places.

“Does the _oh, well, you know_ include using my bedroom? Cause, in that case, I would advice you to put some fresh sheets on the bed.”

Clara giggled to herself. “It might,” she said sheepishly. It would be ideal to use the last weekend before school for some fun and she couldn't really go to a bar as herself. More than once, she had encountered a parent or even an older student, so Clara had come to the conclusion that it would be wiser to go out as Bonnie.

“Alright,” her sister replied. “Just don't do anything I wouldn't do. Or rather don't do any _one_ I wouldn't do. I don't fancy the embarrassment of an ugly one-night-stand.”

“I'll do my best,” Clara said and grinned at her. It was a Friday night, surely there would be a good-looking man or two and tonight, Clara was in the mood to take one of them home. Well, not to _her_ home but Bonnie's. Tonight, Clara would _become_ Bonnie once more, the fearless private security contractor, the one who was bold when it came to men, the one who didn't shy away from taking home someone that she fancied. Tonight would be fun.

“And you're sure you don't want me to do take care of Miss Quill?” Bonnie asked after a while.

With a sigh, Clara let her shoulders sink. If only she could let Bonnie rough her up a little, but sadly, it was Clara who would suffer the consequences on Monday morning. “Nah, spitting in her food will be enough.”

“Consider it done,” her sister concluded and nodded towards the dress in Clara's hands. “Now put that on. I wanna see you slay in a little black dress.”

Clara grinned at her sister in reply. Yes, they would both have a great evening while pretending to be the other and somehow, Clara felt sorry for everyone who didn't have a twin. How did they ever cope? However, Clara didn't know that her life was soon about to be turned upside down by the little game she and Bonnie were playing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments :)

The Doctor wasn't sure why he had listened to Missy's advice. Normally, he would have a pint or two at the nearest pub and go back home, but tonight, he had chosen a location that called itself Spitalfields Bar. The back of the menu reminded every reader that it used to be an illegal strip club and the Doctor soon realized that it hadn't lost its forbidden, secretive vibe and it sort of gave him the impression that he shouldn't be here at all. The music was alright and the food they offered sounded positively mouth-watering, but right now, the Doctor craved the familiarity of his favourite pub. However, he had already ordered and so he leaned back and decided to enjoy his drink for the time being while appreciating the fact that he had managed to get the last available table. It was a busy Friday night and as more and more people kept pouring in, even the spots at the bar were crowded.

It wasn't a bad location, the Doctor thought. Dark, a little gloomy with wooden furniture, but not a place to go on your own. While he was still contemplating ordering a steak, the Doctor let his gaze wander and noticed that most of the people around him were couples. At the table next to his own, he spotted a nervous looking, young man, obviously on a first date with a dressed-up redhead. Then, there was a couple in their forties, staring intently at their plates as if they had just had a massive domestic. At the bar, the Doctor saw the back of a brunette dressed in a tight, black dress and she was almost falling off her chair in an attempt to put some distance between herself and the man sitting right next to her. He couldn't be sure, but somehow, the Doctor got the impression that he was bothering her. Should he get up and say something? No, that would be creepy, but the Doctor kept an eye out for the nearest waiter to ask them to check on the brunette.

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually, one of the waiters stopped at his table to take his order and the Doctor requested a steak before leaning a little closer to the man to avoid anyone overhearing them.

“Do you see the brunette at the bar? The one in the black dress?” the Doctor asked carefully.

After the waiter had turned around to confirm who exactly the Doctor was talking about, the man nodded. “Yes, would you like me to bring her a drink?”

“No, but I think she's a little uncomfortable next to the other guest. Could you maybe ask her and make sure everything's okay?”

The waiter smiled at him in reply. “Of course,” he confirmed. “I'll get right to it.”

“Thanks,” the Doctor said sincerely and watched the waiter cross the room until he had reached the bar and the brunette in the black dress.

He whispered something into her ear and it didn't take the Doctor long to realize that the waiter had mentioned him as well because the woman turned around and looked straight at him. She seemed shocked at first, then relieved and the Doctor felt glad that he had been able to help her, but then suddenly, the woman rose from her seat and made her way towards him. Had he overstepped some boundary? Should he have kept his mouth shut? Was she angry with him? Right now, the Doctor really couldn't tell.

When the woman came to a halt in front of his table, a smile spread across her face as she pointed towards the empty chair. “Is this seat taken?” she asked.

“Uhm,” the Doctor spluttered, momentarily lost for words. What was she up to? “No, it's not.”

“Do you mind if I sit here?” the woman enquired, still smiling. Her lips were red, almost distracting him from the rest of her pretty face. Now that she was right in front of him, the Doctor realized how beautiful she was. “The man at the bar is kind of a nuisance and every other table is already taken.”

The Doctor's mouth fell open and he was racking his brain for the right way to respond, but when the words failed him, he merely nodded and gestured towards the opposite end of the table. The woman pulled up a chair and sat down, still smiling in his direction. He couldn't quite tell how old she was in the low light of the bar, but the shadows that played around her features made her seem incredibly beautiful, her large eyes almost black and her nose odd, but in a cute way.

“Thank you for saying something,” she said after a while. “The guy next to me has been trying to buy me a drink for fifteen minutes and he doesn't quite seem to understand the meaning of the word no.”

The Doctor finally cracked a smile. “Glad I could help,” he remarked. “Although now you seem to be stuck at a table with me.”

The woman chuckled and suddenly, he felt her scan him with her gaze. Oddly enough, she seemed to enjoy that. Eventually, she shrugged. “Could've been worse,” she replied. “I'm Bonnie, by the way.”

He cleared his throat. “John Smith,” he said, “but people usually call me the Doctor.”

For some reason, that last remark seemed to amuse her. “Why? Are you a doctor?”

“Uhm, no,” he replied. “I'm an inventor. It's just a nickname.”

“Really?” she asked, the amusement audible in her voice. “What exactly do you invent?”

The Doctor sucked in a breath as he considered what to tell her. He had invented so many things, useful and useless alike. It was hard to pick one thing that wouldn't make a weird impression. “Well, have you ever heard of a ring flash?”

“Are those the round things you stick on your camera that light up?”

“Exactly,” the Doctor replied, grinning at her. “I invented the design.”

He guessed that the look on Bonnie's face was one of approval because she smirked in his direction. “And you can make a living of inventing things? Might give that a go as well if I get tired of my job.”

“The inventing and building things is just one part of the story,” he explained. “The other is selling your designs and patents to big companies who then pay you money for it. Why? What do you do?”

For a brief moment, Bonnie hesitated. When she spoke, she was smiling once again. “I'm a private security contractor,” she said after a while. “Basically, I'm a babysitter for adults.”

“Wow,” the Doctor uttered without meaning to. Once again, he looked at the small woman in front of him and realized that he had obviously misjudged her. “That's a tough job for, uhm, for-”

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at him. “Careful,” she reminded the Doctor. “Don't want to upset someone who has mastered several martial arts.”

“I'm sorry,” he spluttered instantly. “It's just. . . not what I expected.”

Eventually, Bonnie's lips curled up into a smile again. “That's alright,” she replied. “It comes in handy though. When people underestimate you, you get to take them by surprise.”

She grinned at him in response and when the Doctor spotted the waiter in the background as he was bringing food to another table, he suddenly remembered his own meal that was going to arrive sooner or later.

“So, uhm, would you like to order something?” he asked her. “Cause I've got a steak coming and I'd feel weird eating in front of you while you're staring at your drink.”

“Did you just offer to buy me a meal?” she enquired, giving him a sheepish smirk.

“Well, yeah,” the Doctor replied as if it should have been obvious. Hadn't it?. “I just asked you, didn't I?”

Finally, Bonnie nodded and leaned back in her seat, obviously happy with the table she had chosen. “Alright, I'll take it.”

The Doctor realized that this evening was really not going to plan because he never had the intention of approaching a woman and following that part of Missy's advice as well, but now that Bonnie was sitting at his table, he somehow found that he really didn't mind this part at all. Bonnie was nice and the Doctor determined that he liked her and at least, he wouldn't have to dine alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the comments *hug*
> 
> Now, I suppose you're curious what the Doctor and Clara/Bonnie will do next?

The Doctor was a proper gentleman, awkward as he was, and he had offered to call her a taxi, something Clara had declined. Instead, she had asked him to walk her home because Bonnie's flat was just a stone's throw away. The Doctor hadn't minded. Now, only a few steps separated her from the entrance to Bonnie's luxurious apartment and Clara considered her options. The Doctor wasn't usually the type of man she took home, but for some reason, she liked him. They had chatted over dinner and she had soon realized that he was smart and funny and even though he was a little older, he wasn't at all bad looking. Quite the contrary. The mop of silver curls on his head along with the stubble on his chin gave him a sharp, handsome look. Clara liked that. Could she make a move? Would he let her?

Clara stopped in front of the building and granted him a smile. “This is my stop,” she said softly. “Thank you for walking me home.”

“Uhm, no problem,” the Doctor replied. He often spluttered a little when she smiled at him and Clara thought it was kind of sweet. “I mean, it's on the way to the bus stop.”

“Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee before you go home?” she asked before the surge of bravery vanished and she remembered that she was actually Clara and not her sister Bonnie.

In response, the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her. “Isn't it a little late for coffee?”

His obliviousness made her chuckle and before Clara could think better of it, she pushed herself up on tiptoes and pressed a short kiss straight to his lips. When she pulled away, his eyes were wide with shock and he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“That was a euphemism,” she explained, chuckling.

“Uhm, Bonnie, that's, uh-”

Over dinner, they had talked about relationships and Clara had learned that he had an ex-wife but was currently single. Either he wasn't into her or he was terribly shy. Clara assumed it was the latter because she had caught him looking at her multiple times.

“I'm gonna start a stressful babysitting job next week,” she went on. “So I would really like to use this weekend to have some fun before that. Would you like that?”

“Uh, like what?” he spluttered.

Clara grinned at him in response. “Would you like to have some fun?”

Even when she was pretending to be her twin sister, saying these words still felt a little odd, a little foreign. Clara really wasn't the type for this and neither was the Doctor. She really shouldn't push it, but she liked him and right now, she wanted nothing more than to take him upstairs and continue the evening that was really not turning out the way she had thought it would. Her last conquest had been a French businessman who had been in town for a conference and he had sneaked out before she had woken up. This one would be different and Clara was curious to see what would happen if she just went for it.

“You don't normally do this, am I right?” she asked him when he failed to respond.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. “Actually, I've never done this,” he replied. “I'm not entirely sure what to say right now.”

She smiled at him to ease his obvious nervousness. “Okay, how about we go upstairs and I make us an actual cup of coffee and we'll just see how that goes?”

“Uhm, that could work,” he replied hesitantly, but Clara could still see that he was nervous. She would have to try her best to make him feel comfortable.

 

When they stepped into Bonnie's flat, the Doctor uttered a “wow” and Clara chuckled at his reaction until she once again realized that it wasn't actually her flat he was impressed with but her sister's. She brushed the thought aside and turned around to face him. There was something adorable about the Doctor as he stood there in the middle of Bonnie's fancy living room and even though he was older, he suddenly seemed incredibly boyish and sweet.

“You can take your coat off if you like,” Clara told him and took a few steps in his direction until she came to a halt right in front of him.

As she smiled at him, the Doctor looked down at her and when she felt his gaze on her body, Clara slowly stripped out of her own jacket, dropping it on the sofa next to them. Slowly, reluctantly, he followed her example.

“You can also take off your shirt,” she said with a shrug. “I wouldn't mind.”

“Bonnie-”

To shut him up, Clara once again went up on her toes and kissed him a second time, however, the Doctor didn't pull away and neither did she. Instead, he closed his arms around her and parted his lips, allowing her in and Clara felt a tingling sensation in her stomach when she realized that he wasn't averse to kissing her. She could still taste a hint of scotch on his tongue and without thinking, Clara let herself sink against his chest that felt so strong and firm under her hands.

When he eventually broke the kiss, Clara could hear him chuckle. “It's funny,” he said. “Today, someone told me to go out and find a woman. I, uhm, I didn't actually expect the second part to happen.”

Clara shrugged. “Technically, I found you.”

“Uhm,” he paused, “is that what happened?”

Ignoring his question, she let her hands wandered to the top button of his shirt and Clara waited for him to stop her, but he never did and so she opened the first button, followed by the second and the third. The Doctor didn't protest, he just stood there, letting it happen, too shy to make a move. It was kind of endearing, but Clara was determined not to do all the work by herself.

She smiled up at him. “Could you help me out of this dress? It's a little uncomfortable.”

He chuckled nervously. “Are you sure?”

“Are _you_?”

His chuckling turned into outright laughter. “I'm not even entirely sure what's happening right now,” the Doctor admitted. “But I like it, I think.”

Clara laughed with him and decided that they had talked enough for tonight. The Doctor was sweet, they liked each other and tomorrow morning, they would go their separate ways and never meet again. Until then, Clara decided that they shouldn't waste any more time talking. It was her last weekend before the summer break was over and Clara was determined to use it as best as she could.

The Doctor didn't have a chance to protest and she doubted that he would have as she grabbed him by the collar of his unbuttoned shirt and pulled him down until their lips met. This time, the Doctor seemed a little more eager as he kissed her back and Clara felt a surge of excitement run through her veins as she pressed herself against his tall, lean body, knowing she would thoroughly enjoy discovered every inch of it tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments :)

The Doctor was in the process of waking up. He could tell that something on the other side was tugging at his consciousness, desperately trying to wake him up while his mind was still flooded with the images of a dream he couldn't shake quite yet. He saw Bonnie and her naked body with her flawless skin and all the curves he had touched last night. It was such a marvellous image that he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep until the Doctor realized that what was trying to wake him was the blaring sound of an annoying alarm clock and he was actually still in bed next to the woman he had slept with last night.

Bonnie reached out and silenced the alarm before she turned around in bed and looked at him, her eyeliner now smudged all around her eyes, but she still looked gorgeous to him, maybe even more so than she had done last night.

“Good morning,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Morning,” he replied and suddenly, it occurred to him that she might no longer want him here. Last night, Bonnie had been pretty clear in her intentions to seduce him and the Doctor, unable to resist her beauty and charm, had gone along and he had thoroughly enjoyed it. Judging by Bonnie's behaviour, so had she. But what about now? Should he have left before she woke up? Would she expect him to jump out of bed right away, put his clothes on and go? Would she consider that rude? The Doctor had no idea. He had never done anything like this before.

“I had a lot of fun last night,” she admitted quietly and then bit down on her lip.

“So did I,” he said sincerely. “Uhm, I'm sorry. I've really never done this before, I don't know the protocol for the morning after. Do you want me to leave?”

Bonnie chuckled again and it seemed as if he continued to amuse her. She had done that quite often last night and the Doctor wasn't sure whether it was a good sign or not. “I don't think there's a protocol,” she replied. “And it depends. Do you want to leave?”

“Bonnie, uhm-”

The Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence when she leaned forward and kissed him again. She had done that last night, just surprising him with a kiss and the Doctor couldn't help but admit that he liked it. She was bold where he lacked the confidence. 

Images from last night immediately flashed up in his mind, images of Bonnie on top of him, moaning his name and the Doctor suddenly winced when she reached between them and wrapped her hand around his morning wood.

“You could stay for a moment longer,” she whispered against his lips as she continued to stroke him.

“Yes,” he uttered throatily. “I suppose I could.”

Bonnie rolled on her back and the Doctor instinctively followed her lead, climbing on top of her and pinning her to the sheets. Oddly enough, they didn't smell like her at all, they didn't smell anywhere near as amazing as she did as she lowered his lips to her neck and started covering her in kisses that had her hum in contentment. The Doctor wasn't sure when he had last wanted someone as badly as he wanted her right now. There was something so new, so exciting about Bonnie and he hadn't even realized that he had missed that. Everything about her was so unexpected and he just wanted to go along as if it was all a big adventure. The Doctor planted a sloppy kiss on her lips, one that almost robbed him of his breath when she kissed him back while she was grinding her naked body against his own. It sent a thrill of desire through his body and he noticed that pulsing sensation in his hardness that was more than eager to pick up where they had left off last night.

Bonnie seemed to have read his mind because she reached for the condoms on the bedside table and unwrapped one of them. Her clever hand slipped between them and the Doctor found it hard to hide his anticipation as she helped him put it on and led him straight to her entrance. He uttered a soft groan and Bonnie breathed into his ear as he sank into her wetness once again. Even though the feeling of her around him was almost overwhelming, the Doctor tried to pace himself, moving slowly, trying to build a rhythm and Bonnie hooked her leg around his hip to guide him deeper. He watched as her head sank back into the pillows, her lips parted and her breath ragged when their movements sped up and the Doctor was trying his best not to give in to his urges straight away. The way she felt, the sounds she made, that look of arousal on her face, all of that was too amazing to rush through it. He wanted to relish the moment because a part of him already knew that there wouldn't be another repeat. As soon as he left her flat, the Doctor would never see Bonnie again.

“You're beautiful,” he muttered breathlessly before he bent down to leave a short kiss on her lips and he continued his thrusts, burying himself in her completely while Bonnie uttered a soft moan. Her fingernails dug into the skin of his back.

“And you feel amazing,” she panted while her hips moved up to meet him at an urgent pace that told the Doctor she was close.

Finally, he closed his eyes and gave himself to the sensation. When Bonnie purposefully tightened her muscles around him, the Doctor couldn't help but moan her name as it sent a spark through his body that only stoked his arousal. He plunged back into her, causing Bonnie to cry out in pleasure. Not long and the feeling of her around him would push him over the edge. Then, the Doctor felt her pulse around him while her nails dug a little deeper and he increased his pace, thrusting desperately until she gasped for breath and he could feel his own climax hit him like a wave and he closed his eyes, giving himself completely to the brief feeling of pure bliss and relief.

* * *

Clara needed a moment to come down, their breathing still heavy and their heartbeats still too wild to even think about moving. The Doctor was not only sweet but damn good at making her fall apart in his arms. She chuckled to herself even though she couldn't quite understand why.

“Happy?” the Doctor asked next to her, the amusement at her giggling audible.

She turned her head and smiled at him. “What gave me away?” Clara asked, grinning.

“Oh, I don't know,” he shrugged softly, but he smiled back at her as well. Then his features turned a little more serious. “Hey, mind if I use your shower?”

“Not at all,” she replied and if she hadn't been exhausted in that area, she would have suggested joining him. Clara knew very well that it was a bad idea and she shouldn't even start.

As the Doctor picked his clothes off the floor and trudged off into the direction of the bathroom, Clara thought that maybe she had made a mistake last night. Her last one-night-stands had meant nothing to her and they hadn't exchanged much more than names and smalltalk, but the Doctor was different. He was a little peculiar and awkward, but Clara realized that she liked him – a lot – and he seemed to like her, too, or rather the person he thought she was. Bonnie, the fearless private security contractor with the luxurious flat.

Clara made her way into the kitchen and switched on the coffee maker, determined to at least offer the Doctor the cup of coffee she had promised him last night before he vanished from her life, probably forever. Somehow, it didn't exactly feel right to think about him like that and Clara realized that she would very much like to see him again. Was it too late to come clean? To tell him about her real self and why she had done it? Would he understand? Oh, if only she had told him the truth from the beginning.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the Doctor stepped into the kitchen, now fully dressed while she was only wearing her bathrobe. He looked ready to leave.

“I'm making coffee. Do you want a cup?” she asked him hopefully.

His face lit up at the mention of it. “Very much,” he replied.

Clara filled two of her mugs and handed him one which he accepted thankfully before he blew on the hot beverage to cool it down.

“Thank you,” he said eventually.

Clara chuckled. “It's just coffee.”

“I actually meant thank you in general,” the Doctor explained and his gaze dropped to his feet as if he was a little embarrassed about what he was going to say. Damn, he really was sweet. “Last night, well, I. . . I enjoyed that a lot. I hope so did you?”

Carefully, the Doctor lifted his gaze and looked at her.

Clara smiled at him and her heart skipped a little beat. If only she hadn't lied to him about who she was. Now, everything was unnecessarily complicated. “I did,” she confirmed truthfully.

“Well, I guess I should get back home,” the Doctor reasoned after a moment. “My daughter is away for the weekend and I wanted to use the moment to work on her birthday present.”

“You have a daughter?” Clara asked in surprise. They hadn't covered that last night.

“I do,” he said, smiling that proud-father smile. The Doctor loved his kid a lot. And it complicated matters further. “She's gonna turn 13 in a few weeks and I'm trying to build her a dog.”

Clara frowned at him in response. “You're building her a dog?!” she asked in disbelief, mainly because she couldn't imagine how one would go about that.

“She asked for a proper dog, a live one, but I don't think she's quite ready for that responsibility and her mother would murder me, so I'm building her a robot one where she can practice. You can teach it tricks and it starts barking when it wants to be taken for a walk or play. It's a toy,” the Doctor explained and for some reason, his cheeks turned red as if he was embarrassed about building a robot.

“That sounds amazing, to be honest,” Clara admitting, smiling at him. “I'd have loved that as a kid. You must be insanely talented when it comes to that.”

“Oh, well,” he replied and blushed a little more, “I'm just trying my best.”

The Doctor was perfect. He was good-looking, smart, talented, he had a career, he was gentle and caring and funny and Clara had messed it all up at the very beginning by pretending to be someone she wasn't. She should say goodbye now and leave it at a wonderful one-night-stand because she already knew that it wouldn't turn out well, but before she could think better of it, Clara turned around and grabbed a piece of paper from a small stack on the kitchen counter. She scribbled down her number, her real phone number, and handed it to the Doctor.

“Uhm, what is this?” he asked, obviously confused.

“It's my phone number,” Clara told him.

His eyes widened and he took the piece of paper from her before she had a chance to change her mind about it. “You want me to call?” he asked and Clara thought there was a sound of hopefulness in his voice.

She smiled at him. “You can do with it whatever you like,” Clara told him and she meant it. If he didn't call, she would be spared an awkward explanation and if he did call, she would be insanely happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the sweet comments :) You're curious how the Doctor is gonna meet Clara? Well, here's a hint. . .

The staff room was unusually quiet for a lunch break and Clara assumed that most teachers had decided to use the rare moment of sunshine and were spending the break outdoors before heading back to class. So far, Clara had had a double period with year seven and she was looking forward to all future Fridays this year because she would get to take a very well-behaved class to Taekwondo. Maybe, she would learn a thing or two herself and then, what she had told the Doctor last Friday would no longer be a lie.

Her mind wandered back to the man she had spent the night with and her gaze involuntarily dropped to the phone next to her on the table. He hadn't called and Clara wasn't sure whether it was a good or a bad thing. If he didn't call, she would escape an awkward explanation about why she had lied to him, but the idea of him not calling bugged her a little more than she cared to admit. It was something that had never happened to her before. Okay, Clara hadn't exactly given out her number to the other men, but still, why would he not call? They had had fun, right? They had liked each other? Clara was fairly certain that the feeling had been mutual and therefore, the Doctor should definitely call. But if he did, how would she tell him? _Hello Doctor, actually, my name is Clara and I'm a boring teacher with a small flat in an apartment complex, how are you?_ Somehow, she had the feeling that he wouldn't take it well because he had been fascinated by Bonnie and not by Clara.

Her internal monologue came to an abrupt stop when the door to the staff room opened and the physics teacher stepped inside. Clara rolled her eyes and pretended to be busy on her phone just to avoid talking to her. Miss Quill was the one teacher that had hated her from the first moment and to this day, Clara had no idea why. Maybe it was because she simply hated everyone, but she seemed to harbour a particular dislike for Clara.

“So you're going to take year seven to Taekwondo from now on, yeah?” Miss Quill asked her, the tone of her voice sharp, and judging by her behaviour, the physics teacher already knew the answer to that question.

“Seems like it,” Clara replied without looking up.

Even though every single chair in the room was free, Miss Quill chose to sit in the one right next to Clara. “You know, that used to be my job last year,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, they mentioned it.” Clara tried very hard to stare at her phone and appear as uninterested as humanly possible. Mr Armitage had insisted that another teacher should take care of that from now on because Miss Quill had repeatedly insulted and bullied the children during practice, resulting in no less than fifteen parent complaints.

“Ah, well, I don't mind,” Miss Quill said dismissively. “Those kids were a lost cause anyway.”

Finally, Clara had had enough. She turned her head and glared at the rude physics teacher. “They are children,” she barked. “And Taekwondo is supposed to be a fun exercise for them and not a contest, especially not a contest against an adult teacher. Jamie had to wear a cast for six weeks!”

“But he did learn something about balance,” Miss Quill insisted. “Anyway, what did you think about the salad incident on Friday?”

Clara's eyes immediately widened in horror when she realized she hadn't actually talked to Bonnie about the staff dinner. Damn, she should have asked her sister about it, but she had been too busy thinking about her own stupid problems.

“Oh, uhm, I didn't have the salad,” Clara replied for lack of anything else to say.

In response, Miss Quill's forehead lined with a frown. “Are you sure? I swear I saw some on your plate.”

“Not my plate,” she said. “I was holding it for someone else.”

“For who?” the physics teacher enquired. “Was it Adrian?”

Clara squinted her eyes at her colleague because she had no idea what Miss Quill was actually on about. Maybe Bonnie had been right to assume that she suspected something because her sister had mentioned one thing in particular and that was the absence of the bowtie-wearing Shakespeare fan she had talked to during the summer fête.

“No, because Adrian wasn't there, remember?” Clara replied, hoping that her insecurity didn't show. She had to get out of the staff room, away from Miss Quill and her questions. “And I should go. I've got a double period with year eight now.”

Clara grabbed her phone and her bag and rose from her seat before she made her way across the room, praying that Miss Quill wouldn't ask her another question about Friday before she had a chance to talk to Bonnie about it. As much as she loved switching roles with her twin, sometimes, it made things a lot more complicated than they already were.

 

After the break ended, the students started to pour into the classroom and selected a seat and Clara already noticed that she would have to make other sitting arrangements before long because there was no way she would let Courtney Woods sit in the back with her two closest friends and fellow troublemakers. There were, however, a couple of faces Clara didn't recognize and she assumed that they were the new students who had switched school over the holidays. When the bell rang, she silenced the waffling students and took up her list of names to check attendance. One by one, she read out the names, asking the newcomers to introduce themselves in a couple of sentences. Usually, children this age were a little awkward when it came to talking about themselves.

“Reid, Tobias?” she asked and looked up to see a boy raise his hand.

Clara nodded and checked the box behind his name.

“Saxon, Am-”

“Rosie,” a girl in the back shouted immediately, interrupting her mid-sentence. “My name is Rosie.”

Clara was about to give the girl a little lecture about interrupting others while they spoke when she glanced at the list once again. Ambrosia Saxon. She felt a little sorry for the girl immediately because a name like that bordered on child abuse. What parent in their right mind would name their daughter after a custard? Well, at some point, Clara was sure to find out.

When she looked at the girl, Clara granted her a smile. It was a cute-looking kid with brown, curly hair and a NASA jumper. “Why don't you tell us something about yourself, Rosie?”

The girl shrugged. “I used to live on the other side of the city, but I moved here to live with my dad,” she said. “I like reading and I'm learning to play the guitar.”

“What's your actual name?” Courtney Woods suddenly threw in, grinning mischievously. Oh, Clara hated that girl with a passion. “Miss Oswald was gonna read out something else.”

Rosie suddenly looked a little frightened and Clara could only imagine why that was. No teenager would like to admit that their parents had named them Ambrosia.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Courtney,” she said, deciding to come to the new girl's rescue. “It says Rosie Saxon right here on this sheet of paper.”

Clara threw Rosie a glance and the girl smiled back at her, obviously grateful for the help, and Clara vowed to have a word with her fellow teachers to keep her real name a secret from bullies like Courtney Woods.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments, guys :))) Now, what will happen next? Will the Doctor call "Bonnie"? Will he meet "Clara"? Will Rosie cause some awkwardness between them?

“Open the door,” Rosie said in a low voice imitating her father's and to his dismay, the lock clicked and sprang open.

The Doctor groaned. “Ugh, really? You're fooled by my daughter?” he asked in annoyance and threw the screwdriver across the table. For weeks, he had been working on this security lock that could be opened either with a key or by voice command. However, it seemed that it still couldn't tell the difference between a grown man and a twelve-year-old. There was still a lot of work to be put into it.

“Maybe I'm just really good at disguising my voice,” his daughter suggested.

The Doctor scoffed. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you're really not.”

“Hey, I was just trying to cheer you up,” Rosie complained.

In his frustration, the Doctor threw his tools aside and sat up straight. “I need a break,” he announced. “What do you think about ice lollies?”

His daughter frowned at him. “Didn't we have lunch 20 minutes ago?”

He rolled his eyes in response. Why did she have to inherit the talent to point out the obvious from her mother? “Well, I want another break,” he insisted. “Now be a good child and get us ice lollies.”

It was obvious that she had given up resisting when Rosie got up and made her way towards the door, but she didn't do it without at least uttering a groan. Once his daughter had left the workshop, the Doctor threw another glowering glance at his work in progress. Maybe he should give up and focus on something else instead, but he wasn't really a quitter.

But even though his work was a bit of a nuisance at the moment, the Doctor couldn't help but feel happy. For the past few years, he had only seen his daughter on weekends and the fact that she was now living with him made him insanely happy. That was all he had wanted and Rosie seemed to like the change as well. She was happy at her new school and so far, she had only told him about how nice the teachers, all except her physics teacher. Miss Quill seemed strict, but Rosie was smart and had received an A for answering a question, so even Miss Quill seemed to like her. Rosie had even made a new friend already. Everything was going extremely well.

“You only had strawberry left,” his daughter complained when she entered the workshop again and handed him one of the ice lollies while she was already licking one.

Wordlessly, the Doctor peeled off the wrapping while he became increasingly aware that his daughter was watching him for some reason. He wasn't quite sure why, but knowing Rosie, she would ask her question sooner or later and usually, it was sooner. She was a curious child after all.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she enquired after a while.

The Doctor's head shot up. He hadn't expected that.

“Uhm,” he paused. He didn't. Bonnie could hardly be considered a girlfriend if their one-night-stand had happened a week ago and he hadn't had the courage to actually use the number she had given him and call. No, definitely not a girlfriend. “No. Why do you ask?”

Rosie shrugged. “Cause Mum has a boyfriend now. He's a bit weird.”

“You met him?!”

So much for not bringing girl- or boyfriends home.

“He came round to dinner last Saturday,” his daughter explained and then rolled her eyes. “Mum wanted to formally introduce him.”

“And you don't like him?” the Doctor asked carefully. If she hated him, he would have to have a word with Missy. Rosie was too young to be subjected to strangers and her relationship issues.

“He's alright, I guess,” Rosie said after a moment, licking her ice lolly absent-mindedly. “He's got a weird sense of humour though, made some really unfunny jokes.”

The Doctor snorted.

“You haven't answered my question. Why don't you have a girlfriend?”

In response, he granted his daughter a smile. “Because you're the only woman I need in my life.”

Rosie rolled her eyes at him.

“Excuse me, that's the good dad response,” the Doctor growled. “At least appreciate it.”

“Alright,” his daughter agreed eventually. “You're too old for sex anyway.”

His mouth instantly fell open and for a moment, he had almost protested until he remembered that he was talking to his twelve-year-old daughter. He couldn't tell her what he had been up to last weekend while she had visited her mother. Maybe in five years or in fifty, but not now. Still, a little part of him wanted very much to protest.

“Parents having sex is gross,” Rosie remarked.

“How do you think we got you?”

Her face distorted in a grimace and the Doctor leaned forward just a bit, grinning. “Just a hint, we didn't buy you at the supermarket.”

“You couldn't have afforded me anyway,” his daughter replied, now grinning back at him. “All I'm saying is that it's okay if you wanna get a girlfriend as long as you don't have sex with her and she doesn't make unfunny jokes.”

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle. His daughter was so smart and yet so innocent at the same time. And then he thought about Bonnie again and how lovely it would be to repeat that night they had shared. It wasn't as if he hadn't considered calling her throughout the week, but every time he had picked up the phone, his courage had forsaken him. A woman like Bonnie was so far out of his league that under normal circumstances, she would never have looked at him twice. His intervention had led to the dinner and the dinner had led to an invitation for coffee and that had led to the rest. But could he just call and hope for her to be interested? The Doctor wasn't sure. And on top of that, a week had passed already and another week would pass before he could see her again and he had Rosie to think about. He wasn't sure whether she was actually okay with him potentially dating a woman.

Before he could think better of it, the words just escaped his mouth and he couldn't stop them. He also couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. “I had dinner with a woman last weekend. Accidentally. But she's not a girlfriend.”

Rosie's eyebrows shot up. “How do you accidentally have dinner with someone?”

The Doctor shrugged. “All the tables were occupied, so she sat with me.”

“Was she pretty?”

His smile only widened when he recalled her sweet face. “Very pretty.”

“Are you gonna make her your girlfriend?” his daughter wanted to know. “Mum will freak out.”

Missy would indeed freak out once she learned how old Bonnie was and not in a good way. Maybe she would freak out so badly that she would take Rosie back. That couldn't happen.

“Don't tell your mother about this!” the Doctor reminded her harshly. “I don't even know whether I'm going to see her again, so don't mention it to your mum.”

Rosie shot him an inquisitive gaze.

“Just don't, okay?”

“Fine,” she agreed at last and sank back in her chair before she discarded the empty ice lolly stick on his desk. “But are you gonna make her your girlfriend?”

The Doctor chuckled at his daughter's persistence. “Are you sure you would be okay with that? Because if I did have a girlfriend, she might come over for dinner at some point.”

Rosie made a dismissive gesture. “Can't be worse than Seb.”

The Doctor frowned, not really knowing who she was talking about.

“Mum's boyfriend. The one with the jokes.”

“Alright, if you're okay with it, I might ask her out for a proper dinner,” he said eventually. Maybe he should call Bonnie again now that he knew that Rosie was okay with the idea. The Doctor could still worry about Missy later. But first, he would have to be brave.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *group hug for the sweet comments* :) Thank you, guys!

Clara was walking down the school corridor, surrounded by loud, screaming children and she could feel a headache rise to the back of her head. Most days, she loved being a teacher, but today was definitely not one them. Not only had Courtney Woods repeatedly interrupted her class, she was also trying her best to figure out the new student's full name. Ambrose. She was a sweet kid and very clever, but her parents had done her a true disservice by calling her that name.

Suddenly, Clara was shoved and she turned around to see that a brawl had broken out between a couple of students, yet before she could raise her voice and tell her unruly students to behave, Miss Quill's scream resounded in her ears.

“What are you?! Apes?! Get yourselves under control, we're not in a damn zoo!”

Clara was about to open her mouth and agree with her while also softening her colleague's stance, but then she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Turning away from the noise, Clara pulled it out and answered the call.

“Yes?” She almost had to shout over the background noise.

“Hey,” a male voice said on the other end and Clara instantly went rigid. She hadn't expected that. She had expected a lot of people, but not him. “It's the Doctor. Remember me?”

Her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest and for a moment, Clara didn't even know what to say. Over a week had passed since their encounter and by now, she hadn't actually thought she would ever hear from him again. The fact that he was calling somehow made her incredibly happy.

“Hi,” she replied nervously, smiling at her phone. “Of course. . . of course, I remember you. The inventor with the crazy nickname. Hard to forget.”

Oh God, she was babbling. Why was she babbling? She hadn't been nervous when she had invited him into her flat. Then again, she had been Bonnie then and now she was Clara and Clara wasn't so bold when it came to men.

“I'll take that as a compliment,” he replied, chuckling softly.

“Well, it was meant as one,” she breathed for lack of anything else to say when one of her students basically started to shout into her ear.

“It's loud where are you,” the Doctor remarked.

“Sorry, I'm at work,” she replied and instantly wanted to clap her hand over her mouth. She had to be Bonnie, not Clara. And she had to find a quiet spot. Quickly, Clara opened the nearest door she could find and promptly found herself in a supply cupboard. It was small and crammed, but at least it was a little quieter than the corridor and it would have to do for now.

“Work?” the Doctor enquired curiously. “I thought you worked as a private security person or something like that.”

“I do,” Clara said immediately and quickly racked her brain for something clever to say, something believable. _Tell him the truth_ , her conscience whispered, but Clara ignored it for now. It was neither the right place nor the right time for that kind of conversation. “I'm babysitting a client and they just dropped their kid off at school.”

“In that case, I'm sorry to interrupt you in the middle of a job,” he said. “If it's a bad time, I can call again later?”

“No, it's okay!” Clara replied and her voice sounded more desperate than she would have liked. The last thing she wanted was for the Doctor to hang up, especially because it had taken him over a week to call. “My client won't get murdered just because I let them go to the loo unattended. And I'm glad you called.”

She heard him breathe a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “I'm glad I finally found the courage. I wasn't sure whether you actually wanted me to call.”

If Clara was entirely honest, she hadn't been sure about it either until he had actually called. Now, she just wanted one thing – to see him again.

“I wanted you to,” she said sincerely. “I'm glad you did.”

“So, uhm,” the Doctor paused, “do you have any plans for next weekend?”

Clara's heart instantly skipped a beat. She would see him again.

She grinned into the phone when she replied. “Not yet, but I have a feeling that's about to change.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Well, we could accidentally end up at the same restaurant and share a table because all the others are occupied,” he suggested. “Or I could take you out for an intentional dinner on Saturday.”

“I'll take the intentional dinner,” she agreed, laughing softly. The Doctor was cute, she had remembered that correctly. And she was very much looking forward to Saturday now.

“Great,” he replied and it sounded as if he was relieved and happy at the same time. Clara could only imagine how long it must have taken him to gather up the courage the call. “Shall I pick you up at 6?”

It was then that Clara remembered that he would expect her to live in Bonnie's flat and if her sister had other plans for Saturday, that would put a damper on her date. No, Clara had to think of something else.

“How about _I_ pick _you_ up?” she suggested instead.

“That's, uhm, that's a little unconventional, isn't it?”

Clara shrugged even though he couldn't see it. Bonnie would surely lend her her car even if she didn't want to give up her flat. “I'm an unconventional woman,” Clara argued. “Just text me your address and I'll be there at 6.”

Again, he chuckled. “Alright, if you insist,” he agreed, the amusement still audible in his voice.

“I'm really glad you called,” she told him again just to be sure that he knew.

“I'm glad you agreed to go out with me,” he replied.

Clara heard the continued screaming of children on the corridor and inhaled deeply. “I should get going. Duty's calling. But I'm looking forward to Saturday.”

“So am I,” the Doctor said sincerely.

 

When Clara stepped out of the cupboard, she was immediately greeted by the sight of her most hated physics teacher and for some reason, Miss Quill was grinning. Oh God, what was that woman up to now?

“You know what? I'm actually looking forward to parent-teacher night,” she said with a smug expression on her face while she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I can't wait to tell some of them what rude, little brats they've bred.”

Clara cleared her throat. “Parent-teacher night?”

The school held them once or twice a year, but so far Mr Armitage hadn't announced one – at least not to her knowledge. But judging from her look, Miss Quill knew more than Clara did.

“Yeah, in a weeks or so,” she said. “I normally hate these events because I can't be bothered with another lecture on how special their utterly ordinary child is, but we need to have a word with them about the kids and their behaviour. They're unbearably loud.”

Clara assumed that a lot of parents would also like to talk to Miss Quill about _her_ behaviour, but she chose not to mention that. The physics teacher would find out in time.

“They're children,” she said instead. “Children are usually loud.”

“Not if you put tape over their mouth,” Miss Quill argued and before Clara could even think of a good response to that unorthodox suggestion, she had turned around and headed in the direction of one of the classrooms.

Clara remained on the corridor for a moment longer, but eventually, she decided to push the thought about her rude colleague aside and focus on something a lot more pleasant. She had a date on Saturday. A date with a lovely, attractive man and Clara was determined to make it a success. Miss Quill and the parent-teacher evening were a worry for another day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the comments :) Now, we're heading towards date number two, I assume? But in the meantime, there's more trouble ahead. . .

It was almost dark when the Doctor parked his car in front of Missy's house and this time, their daughter was a little happier about spending some time with her mother after not seeing her for almost two weeks. He assumed that Missy felt the same enthusiasm even if she didn't show it because he remembered all too vividly what it was like to be separated from Rosie for that amount of time. When Missy opened the door, their daughter jumped out of the car and instantly went to greet her mother while it was up to him to unload the boot and carry her rucksack after her.

“Any exciting plans for the weekend?” the Doctor asked when he reached the steps. He didn't feel like coming inside, so he decided to remain at the foot of the stairs so as not to give off the wrong impression.

Missy shrugged. “That's up to Ambrosia,” she replied. “But she might be able to convince me to see a movie tomorrow if she tries hard enough.”

When he glanced towards his daughter, the Doctor realized that she was torn between looking happy at the prospect of going to the cinema and cringing at the use of her full name. She couldn't quite decide what to do and the Doctor couldn't blame her for that.

“Alright,” Missy said. “Say goodbye to your father and then we can have dinner.”

“Actually,” the Doctor cut her off, “can we have a word before I leave?”

His ex-wife blew the air out between her thin lips and that look of annoyance crossed her face for a brief moment before she gestured towards Rosie to step inside. Once they were alone, the Doctor cleared his throat, preparing for the conversation he had already practised in his head a couple of time over the last week. It wasn't going to be an easy one and he knew it.

“So,” she remarked and crossed her arms in front of her chest, “what is it that you want to talk to me about?”

He inhaled deeply before he spoke. “Rosie mentioned you had your boyfriend over for dinner the last time she stayed with you.”

“Ah,” she breathed in reply, but when the Doctor had assumed she was going to elaborate, he was wrong.

He frowned at her lack of reply. “Aren't you going to say anything else?”

Missy shrugged. “What else do you want me to say?”

The Doctor scoffed. She was still as unbelievable as ever. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was _you_ who said that bringing partners into the home while Rosie is present is a big no-no. Our daughter is only twelve. She doesn't need to be dragged into your new relationship,” he complained, raising his voice just a little before he remembered that Rosie was still inside and that the walls weren't as thick as he had often liked them to be.

“I didn't drag her into anything,” Missy replied defensively. “I wanted Ambrosia to meet Seb, so he came over and made us dinner. That's it.”

“You still should have talked to me before you did it! You can't just bring home strange men, not with our daughter around!”

“Seb is not a stranger,” she remarked. “We've been dating for months and he was very happy to finally meet her. And if you're worried that he spent the night, I can assure you that he didn't. But just so you know, we do have sex. Often.”

In response, the Doctor merely raised his eyebrows at her.

“You're not the least bit jealous, are you?” Missy asked, her shoulders dropping while it became obvious that she felt some disappointment over that. “Damn.”

Right now, he was happier to be rid of her than anything else, but that wasn't what he had come to talk to her about. “Please, just don't push him on our daughter unless you know it's something serious. Rosie needs a bit of consistency right now, especially since she just moved and changed schools. If you like him enough to let him into your life, that's fine, but at least ask Rosie how she feels about it before inviting him over for dinner.”

Missy exhaled sharply and she took a moment before she replied. “Fine,” she said eventually. “I will in the future. But Seb is good for me, you know? He might be good for Ambrosia as well. At least she'll have someone to play with Monopoly with.”

Again, the Doctor frowned.

“Well, Seb still likes these silly board games. Blame it on his age.”

The frown only deepened before he decided to ask about it. “How old is Seb exactly?”

His ex-wife shrugged. “35 or so,” she replied, but it was obvious from the tone of her voice that she really wasn't sure about his age.

A part of him should have been angry and maybe even jealous that his ex-wife was dating someone younger than herself, but if he was completely honest, it only made him feel relieved because he was about to go on a date with someone significantly younger as well and he took it as confirmation that it was okay, that he was allowed to do it.

“Fine,” the Doctor said. “Just be careful when it comes to Rosie. Don't bring someone home unless you know he's trustworthy.”

“I won't,” Missy promised and it sounded sincere enough to him.

“Good,” he concluded. “Now, I've received a letter about the parent-teacher evening-”

“I'm cold,” Missy interrupted him. “Let's discuss that when I drop Ambrosia off on Sunday.”

The Doctor glowered at her and he hated being cut off, but he couldn't help but admit that discussing the school event on Sunday would be enough.

“Good night, Doctor,” she said and then turned around on her heels and closed the door before he even had a chance to say goodbye. He really was glad to be rid of her. And he now had a free pass to go on a date with Bonnie. All in all, it was going well.

* * *

“I passed a little shop on my way home from school and look what they had,” Clara announced happily as she stepped into her sister's flat and held up the present she had brought, or rather the bribe. “I saw this and I instantly thought of you.”

Yet Bonnie only raised her eyebrows in response, seeing through the ruse in an instant. “What do you want?”

Clara lowered the carefully chosen gift basket containing all types of cosmetics and frowned at her sister. They were twins. Of course, she would see right through her. Bonnie knew her face too well to be fooled by a present.

“I want to be you tomorrow night,” she said, knowing that it was no use beating around the bush.

“Sorry, but I have plans already. We can switch next week,” Bonnie remarked as she made her way into the kitchen, obviously busy and right in the middle of something.

Yet Clara wasn't so easily deterred. She had to try. “Please, Bonnie, I'll love you forever,” she begged. “Just tomorrow night.”

Her sister opened the fridge and continued to prepare herself a meal, only casually glancing at Clara every now and then. “Why does it have to be this Saturday? Can't it wait until next week?”

Clara lowered her gaze, knowing that Bonnie would tell her how silly she was and how she should tell her date the truth. “I kind of made plans,” she admitted, “in your name.”

“How?” her sister wanted to know. “I mean, you're not seeing the guy from last time again, are you?”

She bit down on her lip and suddenly, Bonnie dropped the salad she was preparing on the counter and looked at her properly for the first time since she had stepped into the flat. “You are totally seeing the guy from last time,” she realized.

“Yes,” Clara replied carefully.

After a moment of consideration, Bonnie blew the air out of her lungs. “I have a date on the other end of the city. I mean, if you pretend to be me, I don't think anyone would notice two of us running around.”

“Thank you!” Clara instantly blurted out, the gratefulness showing in her voice.

“But you can't have the flat because I have every intention to take him home afterwards.”

“That's totally fine,” she replied and then raised her eyebrows hopefully. “What about your car?”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but Clara already knew that she had given in. “You're a parasite, not a twin.”

“Thank you!” Clara said sincerely and grinned at her sister in response. Tonight, she would assess the situation and maybe even tell the Doctor who she really was. Everything was going to be fine, Clara was sure of it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the sweet comments!!!! Now, I think it's time for date number two ;)

The evening really wasn't going according to plan and the original plan had been such a good one. The Doctor had planned to take Bonnie out for a nice meal at a proper restaurant, he had planned to make up for the strange first meeting by taking her out on a perfectly ordinary date, by being a gentleman and paying for her meal, by complimenting her looks, yet the reality of seeing her again was turning out a little different than it had in his imagination. When he opened the door to let her in, the Doctor didn't really know what to say as he looked into her face and realized she was even more beautiful than he had remembered her.

“Bonnie, uhm,” he spluttered instead, “hi.”

She smiled at him in return, reassuring him and the rest happened too fast for him to really comprehend. A kiss that was probably intended for his cheek landed on the corner of his mouth and the Doctor turned his head sideways, pressing his lips to hers. He had half expected Bonnie to pull away when he realized that a proper kiss was probably not what she had been going for, but to his surprise, she parted her lips to let him in.

After closing the front door behind her, she hooked her arms around his neck as their kiss deepened and while the Doctor was still wondering what the hell was happening, he placed his hands on her small hips and pulled her a little closer. His body responded to her touch almost instantly and he felt a jab of excitement course through his veins when he realized that he really hadn't imagined their last encounter. This beautiful, young woman might just be as crazy about him as he was about her and he had spent two weeks trying very hard not to get his hopes up.

When at last, they ran out of air, Bonnie pulled away and beamed at him. “Hi,” she breathed in return.

“Hi,” the Doctor said again, panting just a little from the unexpected greeting. Still, he had no idea what to say to her. He was probably grinning at her like an idiot.

“So, uhm, you've got the house to yourself?” Bonnie asked carefully.

Finally, something to talk about. The Doctor nodded. “My daughter is spending the weekend with her mother.”

“Good,” she concluded.

He was about to suggest to get his jacket so they could leave for the restaurant, but Bonnie surprised him once more when she went up on her toes and kissed him again. A part of him wanted to protest and tell her that he had made a reservation at a lovely location, that they would be late if they delayed leaving for much longer and another part of him didn't want to protest at all. No, that part was really just eager to repeat the night they had shared two weeks ago. Bonnie seemed to have read his thoughts as she reached between them and tugged at his belt.

“Where's your bedroom?” she mumbled against his lips, obviously unwilling to part from him even for a moment.

“Uhm,” he hesitated, “what about dinner?”

The Doctor heard her chuckle. “How about we have dinner after?” Bonnie suggested instead.

He really should have protested, he should have insisted on taking her out for a proper date because this wasn't how the Doctor had imagined he would meet a woman after his failed marriage, but Bonnie seemed to be a rather bossy woman and he didn't think she would listen to reason right now as she started to unbuckle his belt. The Doctor sucked his breath in when Bonnie suddenly slid her hand past the waistband of his pants and palmed him in her hand. He swallowed hard. He _really_ hadn't expected their date to start like this.

“Bonnie-” he made a last attempt when he already knew it was in vain, when he already knew he had given in to her, but Bonnie only responded by tightened her grasp around his member that was beginning to harden under her touch. He didn't stand a chance against a talented, beautiful, determined woman like Bonnie.

“So, wanna tell me where the bedroom is or shall we do it in the hall?”

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh in response and he also couldn't help but think that he really, really liked her. Somehow, he had always had a strange fascination for women who knew what they wanted and weren't afraid to go for it. Bonnie was such a woman and if he wasn't careful, she would turn his head in no time. But for now, the Doctor wanted nothing more than follow her lead.

They discarded their clothes on the way to the bedroom. Somehow, Bonnie managed to take off his shirt while their lips were still locked and they paused just long enough for him to peel her out of her dress. It seemed almost a shame that she had gone through the trouble of selecting such a pretty piece of clothing only for it to end up on the floor, but when she placed her hands on his bare chest and softly pushed him into the bedroom, the Doctor decided that he didn't care much about what happened to their clothes as long as he could take them off.

He didn't even know why he had made an effort to clean his bedroom because Bonnie certainly paid no attention to it at all when they fell down on his bed and she climbed on top of him. Even though it wasn't their first time or even their second, the Doctor still couldn't quite believe his luck and when he opened his eyes to look at Bonnie, her half-naked figure right on top of him, he couldn't help but smile.

“Something wrong?” she asked him, smiling at him in return.

Softly, he shrugged. “We're gonna miss the reservation.”

Bonnie chuckled in response. “I don't mind,” she confirmed, smiling at him. “I'd rather just kiss you right now.”

Before Bonnie could bend down, the Doctor reached out and cupped her beautiful face in his hands. Her eyes were so dark that he thought he would drown in them and he wondered if it was really possible that a chance encounter at a bar had led to this. He had heard about it, seen it in movies, but he hadn't imagined that one day, he could be the one to take home a woman as beautiful and smart as her.

“Did you plan this?” he asked curiously.

Bonnie grinned at him. “No,” she replied and chuckled again. “I just saw you and really wanted to take your clothes off. Why? Are you complaining?”

“A little maybe,” he said. “I mean, the reservation-”

“Well, stop,” Bonnie told him playfully, “and kiss me instead.”

Finally, the Doctor gave in and pulled her down until their lips met again. Who was he to complain if this gorgeous woman wanted nothing more than to kiss him?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *group hug for the sweet comments*
> 
> It seems as if the Doctor and Clara are bonding. . . but isn't Clara forgetting something?

Clara was too lazy to put her dress back on, so instead, she stole one of the Doctor's shirts which was positively oversized on her small body. She also borrowed a pair of his socks out of the drawer when the doorbell rang and the Doctor left the bedroom to pay the delivery service. Carefully, she followed the sounds he made as he closed the front door and the smell of pizza and she discovered the Doctor as well as their food in the kitchen. Clara smiled at him.

“That shirt looks familiar,” he remarked and Clara twirled around playfully as if to show off how much it suited her. His scent was all over it and she couldn't help but love the fact.

“I think it suits me,” she replied and reached out to grab a slice of pizza. Clara was starving after their exercise, but still, she couldn't bring herself to regret not going to the restaurant. This was perfect.

The Doctor, however, didn't seem quite convinced.

“Sorry I didn't take you to a restaurant like we had planned,” he apologized. “I realize that sex and pizza isn't exactly a proper date.”

“I think it's an excellent date,” Clara replied, munching her pizza. It was delicious and she didn't have a single complaint to make about their date so far.

Originally, she had meant him to be a one-night-stand but now, Clara could see that even this second time wouldn't quite do it for her. The Doctor was unusual and she wanted to find out more. She wanted to get to know him. Strictly speaking, the restaurant would have been the more obvious choice for a conversation, but this was just as good, maybe even better.

The Doctor looked up and granted her a shy smile. “I had hoped to do it properly after our strange first meeting,” he admitted. “Cause I like you.”

Clara smiled at him in reply. “I like you, too,” she said and before she could think better of it, added: “You can do it properly next time. How about that?”

In response, a small frown appeared on his forehead and Clara giggled.

“Yes, I did just ask you out on another date,” she confirmed. “I mean, if you don't mind, of course.”

A look of relief crossed his face as he exhaled sharply. “Honestly, I'm just surprised you're still here at all. I have no idea how to date, I haven't done it in decades and I don't know if what I'm doing is wrong or weird or-”

Clara chuckled and dropped the pizza back in its box to take his hand. She softly squeezed it in her own. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Doctor,” she reassured him. “I mean it. I like you.”

The smile he granted her in response was so honest and heartfelt that Clara suddenly felt a stab a guilt in the pit of her stomach. The Doctor, who had done nothing wrong, was beating himself up over not taking her out on a proper date and here she was, lying to him about the most elemental things about herself. If their relationship was going to continue, she would have to tell him the truth sooner rather than later, but she had no idea where to begin.

“Hey, how about you show me that robot dog you're building for your daughter?” Clara suggested. “I must admit that I'm curious.”

The Doctor rose from his seat and picked up the pizza boxes before he left the kitchen to walk into the adjoining workshop and Clara followed him on his heels, curious as to what was awaiting her. She knew that he called himself an inventor, but she still couldn't quite picture what it entailed. Once she stepped inside his workshop, however, Clara realized that she couldn't possibly have imagined this. The room was big and crammed with all sorts of things that she didn't even know the name of. There was a computer on his desk, of course, along with a variety of tools and several strange appliances seemed to be scattered all over the place. The robot dog, however, was hard to miss as the metal thing took the prime spot right on top of his workbench.

Clara giggled as she approached the metal dog. It didn't have legs, but the vague shape, the antennae ears, tail and dog collar definitely gave it away. “Does it have a name?” she asked excitedly.

“Uhm, I mainly just call it K-9 for now,” he replied hesitantly as he put down the pizza boxes next to his metal pet. “But once I've finished, I can give it any name.”

“What does it do?”

The Doctor cleared his throat. “K-9!”

Clara almost jumped when the dog suddenly came to life, its eyes lit up and it started wagging its tail. It was crazy.

“Yes, Master?” the dog's robotic voice answered.

“Oh my God, it can talk,” Clara blurted out and beamed at the tin dog. His daughter would be ecstatic, she was sure of it.

“K-9, I want you to meet Bonnie. Say hello to her,” the Doctor told it.

The dog wagged its tail a little more and turned its ears in Clara's direction. “Hello Bonnie, how can I help you?”

Still, she giggled at the clever invention. Even though Clara would never have any use for something like this, she found herself wanting one.

“Ask it something,” the Doctor told her.

Clara turned to look at him, frowning a little. “What should I ask?”

He shrugged. “Anything. K-9 has access to Google.”

“Alright,” she said and focused on the tin dog again. “K-9, what is 2+2?”

“The sum of 2+2 is 4,” K-9 replied and then, to her surprise, went on. “Please pet me.”

She laughed, unsure of whether the robot was being serious.

“Go on,” the Doctor urged her. “It has sensors that can detect touch and the robot interprets it as a reward for his help.”

Carefully, Clara outstretched her hand and patted the dog's head. It felt odd to reward a machine with affection, but still, the dog wagged its tail at her again. Clara couldn't believe it.

“This is amazing,” she blurted out and turned around to look at the Doctor. He seemed proud. “And you built this thing all by yourself?”

He nodded. “I've been working on it for six months, it just needs some fine-tuning now.”

“Your daughter is going to be thrilled,” Clara told him. “This is the coolest toy I've ever seen in my entire life and it's useful and it doesn't lose hairs all over the house like a real dog.”

“I might lose oil if my filter isn't changed soon,” K-9 threw in.

“Yeah, I'll get to that,” the Doctor replied and leaned forward. He flicked a little switch and the dog powered down. Its eyes went dark.

“I love it,” Clara announced as she sank down on the nearest chair, her eyes still fixed on the robot. “You must be a genius if you can just build something like this on your own.”

“Oh, I wouldn't know about the genius part,” the Doctor replied coyly as he took the seat next to her. He opened the pizza boxes again and took a large bite of one of the slices. “I just love building things. Always have.”

“Well, I'm positive that your daughter will love the dog,” she said sincerely.

For a moment, the Doctor went quiet and ate his pizza in silence before he looked at her again. “Actually, she's one of the reasons I didn't call you sooner,” he explained. “Her mother and I split up three years ago and she lived with her until quite recently. My ex has a new boyfriend and I wasn't sure whether my daughter would be okay with me dating as well. I had to make sure first.”

Clara nodded. He was a genius, he was sweet, excellent in bed and he seemed to be a great father as well. Did Clara really just meet the perfect man at a bar completely by chance? “I get it,” she reassured him. “Your child comes first. That's how it should be.”

Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up into a wide smile. “But since she gave us her blessing,” he began, “how about I take you out on a proper date next Saturday?”

Clara smiled at him in reply. “I'd love that.”

She needed to tell him the truth and she needed to do it soon. Clara opened her mouth. “Doctor, there's something-” she started, but then broke off. How was she going to explain it? How was she going to explain that she had lied to him about everything, even her name? Clara had no idea. She needed more time to prepare herself. She would tell him next Saturday.

“Mh?” he asked, looking up at her with his curious eyes. “What were you going to tell me?”

“Nothing,” Clara lied and forced herself to smile again. “Not important. I'm already looking forward to the date.”

To cover up the sudden awkwardness, Clara leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the Doctor's lips. She would tell him. Next week.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the lovely comments!!!!

Missy looked around with suspicion and even let her index finger glide over the surface of his table just to see whether her eyes were playing a trick on her not. The Doctor watched while she inspected his house, waiting for her to say what she was obviously eager to say.

“Your place looks suspiciously clean,” she remarked after a while. There it was. “I don't remember you being so keen on cleaning when we were still together.”

“We wanted to talk about the parent-teacher evening, not the state of my house,” the Doctor replied, but he couldn't quite hide the hint of a smile that appeared on his face. He had made a big effort to clean his house before Bonnie's visit and it had paid off. The next morning, after they had spent another night together, she had remarked on how spotless his kitchen looked while he had made her breakfast. Things with Bonnie were going extremely well and he had to admit, that he fancied her more than just a little.

“Mh,” Missy hummed in response and threw him another curious look. “You had a woman over, didn't you?”

“Parent-teacher evening,” he repeated sternly. “It's on Thursday. Shall I pick you up or do you wanna meet me there?”

His ex-wife uttered a growl. “Is it really necessary that we're both there?”

“Yes,” the Doctor insisted. He had known that as soon as Rosie had moved in with him, Missy would try to dodge the less pleasant responsibilities, but he wouldn't let her. Missy was just as much Rosie's parent as he was and he wouldn't attend this dreadful school meeting alone. “It's a new school and I think it's important that we both meet the teachers to make a good impression. Besides, I really don't wanna show up there alone and look like a single father.”

“Newsflash,” Missy announced, “you are a father and you are single. Why do I have to be there, too?”

In response, the Doctor merely glowered at her.

“Fine,” she hissed eventually. “I'll be there, but don't expect me to be nice. You know exactly what I think about teachers.”

“Yes,” he growled, “I know. I think you've made it pretty clear when you called Rosie's former Maths teacher an obese goldfish.”

“How often was I supposed to repeat her name before he finally remembers it?!”

The Doctor opened his mouth, but decided not to say anything. Missy would never understand why his daughter preferred to be called Rosie and he had apologized to her teacher afterwards. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring Missy to the parent-teacher evening after all, but he would be damned if he let her burden him with every last responsibility. This time, they were already divorced and the Doctor wouldn't have to apologize for her any longer. If Missy chose to be rude, that was her problem and not his.

“I'll see you on Thursday,” he told her, suddenly eager to make his ex-wife leave.

“Don't wear your plaid trousers,” she said when she turned towards the door. “I don't want you to embarrass our daughter.”

“I'm not the one who named her Ambrosia,” the Doctor muttered under his breath.

Missy had obviously heard something because she stopped dead in her tracks and spun around once more. Frowning, she looked at the Doctor. “What was that?”

“I said good night,” he lied and faked a smile.

His ex-wife seemed to consider his response for a moment, but eventually, she shrugged and left his house at last. The Doctor exhaled audibly, glad to be rid of her. Now, he and Rosie could have a nice Sunday evening.

* * *

Clara handed her sister a cup of tea and plopped down on the sofa, blowing the air out between her lips as she considered her options. The truth was, she was in need of some girl talk, but she already knew what Bonnie was going to say and sadly, it was a little easier said than done.

“I like him,” she admitted. “I hadn't planned to, but I really do.”

“He's that good in bed, yeah?” Bonnie asked, raising her eyebrows doubtfully.

Even though she tried to suppress it, Clara couldn't help but smirk. “It's not _just_ that. The Doctor isn't the kind of guy you have sex with and then just forget. He's good-looking and sweet and-”

“Good in bed,” Bonnie interrupted her, sipping her tea carefully.

Clara uttered a sigh. “He is,” she confessed. “And he's insanely talented. I mean, he showed me the robot he's building for his daughter and he made it all by himself. A real robot that can talk and google stuff for you. It's amazing!”

She knew that she was sounding far too excited about that man, but Clara just couldn't help it. She liked the Doctor a lot and she was happy that he appeared to like her back. It could be more. It could be her first serious relationship in years if it hadn't been for the fact that she was lying to him.

Suddenly, her sister started to chuckle. “Oh my God, you have a massive crush on that man.”

“I might,” Clara replied sheepishly because it was the truth. She fancied him and even though she had only left his flat this morning, she was already sort of missing him. It would be a whole week before they saw each other again. “But that's not such a bad thing, is it? Because I'm fairly certain it's mutual.”

“But he has a kid,” Bonnie argued. “Are you really prepared to be a stepmother?”

That was a good point and Clara really wasn't sure about that.

“I don't mind children and we're far from that point in our relationship where I would be even close to being a stepmother. We're just starting to get to know each other.”

“Mh-mh,” Bonnie hummed. “And by that you mean he thinks you're called Bonnie and work as a private security contractor?”

Her heart sank when she thought about that tiny little detail that could put a damper on her new romance. She couldn't have known that he might be more than just a one-night-stand when she had met the Doctor, but Clara really should have told him the truth today. The longer she waited, the worse his disappointment would be. She shouldn't wait.

“Want my advice?” her sister asked and then continued without even hearing Clara's confirmation. “Tell him who you really are and do it quickly. I don't want him falling in love with _me_.”

“But how will I explain that?” Clara wanted to know and she realized she was sounding a little desperate. “ _Look, when we met, I posed as my twin sister Bonnie cause that's our idea of fun and I'm actually a boring teacher called Clara_?”

“Exactly,” Bonnie deadpanned, looking straight at her.

Clara sighed and let her shoulders sink. “Alright, I suppose I'll have to think of something,” she reasoned. “I'll tell him next Saturday. Definitely.”

Yet her sister raised her eyebrows at her in suspicion. “Are you lying to yourself right now?”

“Possibly,” she replied. No, there was no other option. Clara would just have to be brave.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your sweet comments!!!! Okay, okay, I don't want to delay this any further - let's have an awkward parent-teacher-evening.

“I'm not saying that my daughter is an angel at all times, but I think you're being a little strict with her,” Courtney Woods' mother said as she leaned forward, closer to Clara. “She says you're picking on her especially.”

Even though she couldn't see it, Clara was sure that at the desk next to hers, Miss Quill was rolling her eyes and Clara was tempted to do the same thing. Of course, Courtney would never tell her mother what really went down in class, so it was natural for her parents to assume that their child was perfectly well-behaved. And Clara was here to enlighten them.

“Mrs Woods,” she began carefully and took a deep breath before she went on, “Courtney has a lot of potential, but I'm afraid she's not using it to the fullest. She's such a clever girl, but she would rather disrupt my class than take part in it.”

“Well, Miss Oswald, maybe you should make your classes more interesting then,” Mrs Woods snapped. “It's not Courtney's fault if she's bored.”

“Trust me, that is not the issue,” she argued, trying very hard to remain calm. Mrs Woods was as annoying as her daughter. “The other students somehow manage to take part in my class without disrupting it.”

“Maybe the other students aren't as smart as my child.”

Clara was about to open her mouth and say something when suddenly, Miss Quill leaned over and decided to join in their conversation even though Clara had dearly hoped that she wouldn't. She couldn't deal with two obnoxious people at once.

“Your kid isn't especially smart or special,” the physics teacher threw in. “She's a nuisance and a brat and she takes joy in bullying the other children. Normally, I don't care about such things, but Courtney is really starting to get on my nerves. And she really is not that smart. She can't allow not to pay attention in my class.”

Mrs Woods' jar dropped. “Did you just call my daughter stupid?”

Clara uttered a nervous laugh. “That's really not what my colleague was trying to say. Just that Courtney would probably receive better grades if she decided to pay attention.”

“Not stupid, no,” Miss Quill said, frowning a little. “Slightly dumb, maybe, but not stupid.”

With a start, Mrs Woods rose from her seat. “That's it!” she exclaimed. “I'm going to have a word with Mr Armitage! I can't believe that people like you two are allowed to teach children!”

“I can't believe brats like Courtney are allowed in this school,” the physics teacher countered nonchalantly, but Courtney's mother never heard her as she turned around on her heels and stormed out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Clara uttered a sigh and she was glad that the worst part of the evening was behind her. She could deal with any other parent, but not with Mrs Woods. In fact, there was only one more name that she hadn't crossed off her list so far, but since Rosie was a good student, Clara doubted that the encounter with her parents would be a bad one.

“I need a cup of coffee,” Miss Quill suddenly announced as she got out of her chair. “If you hear screams, I ran into Mrs Woods again and accidentally murdered her.”

“You do that,” Clara replied absent-mindedly and let her gaze wander across the room. 

Several parents were currently talking to teachers who sat behind their desks, looking more or less annoyed, but she couldn't spot Rosie's parents anywhere. She was new to this school, so they would attend, wouldn't they? Clara had to admit that she was a little curious to meet the two people who had called their child Ambrosia. And then the door to the assembly hall opened and Clara's mouth fell open.

 

For a brief moment, she thought that her spirit had left her body and the heat rose to her head, making her a little dizzy as she looked at the man she knew very, _very_ well. How could she have been so stupid? He had said it, hadn't he? He had mentioned his twelve-year-old daughter and Clara had never bothered to ask about her. Maybe, if she had, she would have been spared the shock and the embarrassment as his head turned and he noticed her. The Doctor was staring right at her. From one moment to the next, the expression on his face changed from surprise to sheer confusion and Clara knew that a long and thorough talk was ahead of them.

Then, she became aware of the woman next to him and it was clear that the brunette was his ex-wife. She was a little taller than Clara herself, but infinitely more scary-looking with her sharp cheekbones and blue eyes. All Clara could do was to watch helplessly as his ex dragged the Doctor towards the only free desk in the room, _her_ desk, while he was still too much in shock to follow on his own account. His eyes remained glued to her. From one moment to the next, Clara's life had become so much more complicated.

“Hello, Miss Oswald,” the woman greeted her, reading her name from the sign on her desk. “You're the English teacher, I assume? We're the parents of Ambrosia.”

Wordlessly, Clara shook the hand the woman offered her and when it was the Doctor's turn, she still hadn't said a word and he was still gawking at her because obviously, he recognized her.

 _Quick_ , Clara told herself, _think of something. Anything._

“Hello,” she replied breathlessly as she extended her hand towards him, “I'm Clara Oswald.”

She would have a lot of explaining to do on Saturday. On her date with a parent. Clara couldn't go out with a parent, could she? Oh God, this was getting more and more awkward by the moment.

“Clara Oswald?” the Doctor asked, the confusion audible in his voice, and only now did she notice that he was still holding onto her hand. Quickly, she drew it back.

She cleared her throat and gestured towards the two seats on the opposite side of the table. His ex-wife sat down immediately while the Doctor still seemed too puzzled to move. The woman nudged him roughly.

“Stop staring at the teacher,” she reminded him harshly. “You'll scare her.”

“Uhm, sorry,” he spluttered nervously. Clara wished she could just ease his mind and tell him on the spot. But she couldn't, could she? Not here, not now, maybe not ever. He wasn't just a man she had met at a bar under false pretence anymore. He was now the father of one of her students. The Doctor granted her a quick, sheepish smile. “I'm sorry. I just. . . you look familiar.”

“I have a twin,” Clara blurted out before she could think better of it. Damn her stupid mouth. How was she ever going to get out of this? “Bonnie. Bonnie Oswald. Maybe you've met her.”

An expression of recognition flashed up in his eyes and a smile appeared on his lips. The Doctor liked her. He really liked her and Clara was in the process of screwing everything up. Or had she already screwed it up by lying to him in the first place? Right now, she couldn't even tell.

“Ah,” he breathed and lowered his gaze, still smiling. God, he was really into her, wasn't he? “Yes. I know Bonnie.”

“Can we get on with this now?” his ex-wife asked, the annoyance audible in her voice. “I have places I need to be.”

Clara watched as the Doctor shot her a dark glance, but she couldn't help but agree with Rosie's mother. She wanted nothing more than to leave this awkward meeting behind.

“Well, I can assure you that I have only nice things to say about your daughter,” Clara announced. “Rosie is adjusting really well to the new school.”

“Ambrosia,” the Doctor's ex-wife corrected her sharply. “Our daughter is called Ambrosia.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. So that was it. The mother had chosen the horrendous name and as far as Clara could tell, the Doctor didn't like it much either.

“I think she prefers to be called Rosie,” Clara countered.

“But that's not her name,” the other woman said blatantly. “Please stop using it.”

Clara frowned at her in response and she got the feeling that maybe this conversation wouldn't be as easy as she had hoped, but she was certain of one thing in particular. Clara wouldn't ignore a student's wish even if her parents disagreed.

Clara cleared her throat. “Well, Ambrosia is a sweet girl,” she reassured them and watched as the smile returned to the Doctor's face. It was so clear that he loved his child and that he was proud of her. Would he even consider dating her teacher? Somehow, Clara doubted it. “She has only been my student for a few weeks, but she made a very nice first impression. She's smart, participates in my class, she received an A on the first essay and I know that my colleagues will only confirm that she is a bright, young girl. I don't take for someone who is friends with everyone, but she has made some new friends already, I think.”

“That's good,” the Doctor replied and threw his ex-wife a quick glance before he eyes wandered back to Clara. She swore that when he looked at her, he saw Bonnie because he was blushing a little. “That's good, isn't it?”

“Very good,” Clara confirmed, laughing softly. “I wish all my students were like Rosie.”

“Ambrosia,” the woman reminded her harshly.

“Mrs Smith-” she began but stopped abruptly. It was too late. There was no way to take it back now.

The woman frowned at her in response and even the Doctor looked a little confused after a moment. Rosie's last name was Saxon and Clara assumed that it was her mother's name as well. There was no way she could know about the Doctor being called John Smith.

“My name is Saxon,” Rosie's mother replied, eyeing her with suspicion. “I kept my name during the marriage and I insisted that Ambrosia should have my name. How do you know about Smith?”

Clara opened her mouth, but no word came out. How did she know? That was a very good question and an even better explanation – once she managed to come up with it.

Then, the Doctor's ex-wife rolled her eyes again. “My daughter hasn't been going around, introducing herself as Ambrosia Smith again, has she?”

“She, uhm,” Clara paused. She had to think of something and she had to do it quickly. “No. I'm sorry, I was thinking about another student.”

Her gaze wandered towards the Doctor and he seemed satisfied with her explanation. However, his ex-wife was still glaring at her.

“You seem a little confused. Are you sure you just praised the right child?”

For some reason, Clara blushed instantly and she didn't want the Doctor to see, so she kept her eyes on his ex instead. She hadn't even known that woman for ten minutes and she already hated her and not only because she had given her child a name like Ambrosia. Mrs Saxon seemed like a horrible person.

“Rosie is a good student, I can assure-”

“Ambrosia,” Mrs Saxon repeated impatiently. “Dear Lord, you're as slow as all her other teachers, aren't you?”

“I think we should leave,” the Doctor announced before Clara had a chance to reply. “Our daughter is doing well, she has already made friends, the teachers like her. That's all I need to know.”

“Yeah, if Miss Oswald described the right kid which I'm really not sure about,” Missy Saxon countered.

Clara was about to open her mouth and reply, but the Doctor cut her off once again by rising to his feet. He looked ready to leave and Clara wasn't even mad about that. She really just wanted to get out of this awkward meeting.

“Well, I've heard enough,” he replied and threw Clara a quick, apologetic glance. She could only imagine how many times he must have apologized for his ex-wife. “It was nice meeting you, Miss Oswald.”

Missy Saxon followed his example and rose from her seat, but when she looked at Clara, her gaze was more disdainful than ever. “I'm gonna keep an eye on you,” she threatened and then turned around and followed the Doctor outside.

Clara didn't care that people around her were watching. As soon as Rosie's parents had left, she banged her head against the table on purpose and cursed internally, listing all the things in her life that weren't going according to plan. She had lied to the man she had a massive crush on, the same man had turned out to be the father of one of her students and was probably not interested in dating his daughter's teacher and on top of that, his ex-wife already hated her. Clara doubted that she had ever screwed up on so many levels before.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Clara has met the Doctor twice. . . let's see what they both make of the meeting.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your sweet comments :)

Clara buried her head in a pillow and uttered a loud, frustrated groan. She felt like screaming, but she knew that her sister would probably not appreciate that and neither would her neighbours. How on earth had she managed to end up in a mess this big? For almost three decades, Clara and Bonnie had played their game and she had always assumed that at some point, it would backfire, but she couldn't have fathomed the extent.

“Wine?”

Finally, Clara lifted her head and looked up to see that Bonnie was holding a glass in her direction. With a sigh, she took it and chugged the contents in one go because nothing else would do for a disaster like the one she had caused.

“Why don't you tell me what happened,” her sister suggested casually as she sat down on the sofa and Clara felt the cushions sink where Bonnie made herself comfortable.

Again, Clara uttered a sigh. Her sister was going to judge her and say _I told you so_ without a doubt. “I met the Doctor again,” she began carefully.

“The guy you have the massive crush on?”

Clara nodded slowly.

“And you told him the truth and he got mad because you didn't tell him sooner?”

“Nope,” she replied. “I met him as myself when he came to the parent-teacher evening to talk about his daughter. Rosie is one of my students. Oh, and he brought his frightening ex-wife along.”

Clara waited for Bonnie's reaction, but it wasn't exactly what she had expected. She had anticipated a lecture, an _I told you so_ , anything but what Bonnie actually did. Her sister started howling with laughter.

“Oh my God,” she chuckled, hardly able to contain her great amusement. “This is amazing. This sort of thing could really only happen to you.”

Her head shot around and Clara glared at her sister.

“Don't look at me like that,” Bonnie remarked. “It's really not my fault you have a talent for picking the wrong guys.”

“Because you only ever pick the right ones,” she countered angrily. “Remember that anarchist?”

“Oh, that was ages ago,” her sister argued. “But screwing your student's dad, that's a new one. What are you gonna do about that now?”

Blowing the air out between her teeth, Clara sank deeper into the sofa cushion. “Honestly? I have no idea,” she admitted sadly. “I should have told him sooner. I should have said who I really was, but I don't know, he seems like a really good dad and he might have a rule against dating his daughter's teacher.”

“Which would be understandable because imagine how weird that is for the kid,” Bonnie said.

“You're really not helping,” Clara replied, growling. But her sister couldn't help, could she? It was such a messed up situation that no one could help her with and she was telling the truth. Rosie would likely not be okay with a relationship between her father and her teacher. “Rosie is a good kid, she might understand. Or she might not. I really don't know how the Doctor is going to take this and I don't know what to do.”

“When are you gonna see him again?”

“Tomorrow,” Clara sighed desperately. “I don't know if I should tell him or not because I really like him and he really likes me back and it's-”

She broke off and once again, covered her face with the pillow and uttered a sob even though she wasn't crying – but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling like it. Why couldn't things be simple? Why did she have to screw up so badly? Clara really didn't know.

“You'll have to think of something,” Bonnie said after a while. “Preferably by tomorrow.”

Clara inhaled deeply and at last, threw the pillow aside. Hiding behind a piece of décor wouldn't help her. “I know,” she said. “I know.”

* * *

Rosie handed him the screwdriver before the Doctor even had a chance to ask about it and he accepted it thankfully before he continued with the task of installing a new BluRay drive in his daughter's computer. She had wanted one for months, but after hearing how well Rosie was doing at her new school, the Doctor had decided to treat her a little. Now, she was looking over his shoulder, grinning happily while studying his every move.

“You and Mum didn't stay long yesterday,” Rosie remarked after a while. “I suppose the teachers didn't have much to say cause I'm still new.”

The parent-teacher evening. The most awkward fifteen minutes in his entire life. For a brief moment, the Doctor had actually assumed that Bonnie was one of his daughter's teachers and his heart had sunk into his boots upon seeing her there. How could he have known about the twin? The Doctor realized that overall, the situation was still a little awkward – yet not nearly as awkward as accidentally sleeping with Rosie's teacher.

“We only talked to one of your teachers,” the Doctor explained. “The English one.”

“Oh, Miss Oswald,” Rosie replied excitedly, beaming at him. “I like her. She's nice.”

She probably was, but the Doctor had been too focused on trying not to come across as weird and he had failed because Missy had once again been rude and then Miss Oswald had been weird in return. All in all, the first impression hadn't been an ideal one. If only she hadn't looked exactly like Bonnie. Even for twins, the resemblance was almost scary. He would have to ask Bonnie about it tomorrow.

“Your mum said she'd pick you up after breakfast tomorrow morning,” he said because he really didn't want to elaborate why the parent-teacher evening had been so awkward. He would really rather not talk about it at all, especially not to his daughter.  
His daughter pulled a face.

“Come on,” the Doctor prompted her. “It's not as bad as you make it.”

“I lived with her for several years. I'd rather spend the weekend with you,” Rosie argued.

The Doctor sighed. He hated to disappoint his daughter, but he also really didn't want to cancel on Bonnie. In fact, he was so impatient to see her again that was considering to ask her to meet him earlier than planned. “How about you stay with me next weekend?” he suggested hopefully.

Suddenly, a frown appeared on Rosie's face and he knew that she was seeing right through him. “You have a date, don't you?”

For a moment, the Doctor thought about denying it, but he knew that it was no use. “Yes,” he replied. “And your mother wants to spend time with you as well. But we can definitely do something nice next weekend.”

“Alright,” Rosie agreed after a while. “But I just wanna say that I enjoy being an only child. Take that into consideration.”

The Doctor chuckled softly. He and Bonnie were far from that point in their relationship and suddenly, he started to wonder what exactly they were to each other, where their dates were going. That was one more thing he needed to talk to her about because he was serious and he hoped that Bonnie was as well. “I will,” he promised. “Now let's finish up your computer, shall we?”

His daughter grinned at him and they both turned their attention back to the electronic patient on his workbench. Internally, however, he was already smiling at the prospect of seeing Bonnie tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the sweet, sweet comments *hugs* :)
> 
> Now, let's have another date - but will Clara come out with the truth?

The Doctor had never been the most patient person, so it wasn't surprising that he called Bonnie at noon and asked to see her for coffee instead of dinner. The weather was perfect and after a nice cup of coffee, he planned to take her on a little stroll by the Thames, maybe even for a ride on the London Eye, before taking her out to dinner like he had promised last weekend. To his great joy, she had agreed.

However, the reality was a little different from what he had expected. They had met at the café, they had ordered their drinks and a piece of cake, but Bonnie was quieter than usually and somehow, it made the Doctor feel a little insecure.

“Do you not like the cake?” he asked carefully after they had been silent for over a minute.

“No,” she replied instantly and her head shot up to look at him. Somehow, the Doctor thought she looked startled. “The cake is good and so is the coffee.”

He uttered a small sigh of relief. “Glad to hear,” the Doctor said earnestly. “I just thought, cause you're so quiet, that you didn't like it.”

“Not at all,” Bonnie reassured him. “I just had a long week, that's all.”

“Good,” he concluded with a smile and then chuckled. There was something he wanted to talk to her about and the Doctor figured that this was the right moment. “You know, uhm, I had quite the interesting week as well. I met your sister.”

There was a pause before Bonnie replied. “Oh?” she asked and then lowered her gaze back to her coffee. She sipped it carefully. “How so?”

Again, he chuckled. “Turns out she's my daughter's English teacher at Coal Hill,” the Doctor explained, laughing softly. “I must admit, I had a bit of a scare when I saw her there. I could have sworn it was you. I babbled like an idiot and probably made a complete fool out of myself.”

To his surprise, Bonnie still didn't look at him and the Doctor couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. She wasn't behaving like she normally was and somehow, he doubted that it was just because of an exhausting week. Maybe she wasn't as interested in him as he had thought? The Doctor's good mood vanished when he considered that possibility.

“Clara and I look very much alike,” she explained, poking the cake with her fork. “Even close friends struggle to tell us apart.”

Again, the Doctor laughed cause he didn't know how else to react in this slightly awkward situation. Something was wrong with Bonnie today and he would try his best to lighten her mood. “Well, I assume you had a lot of fun pretending to be the other as kids.”

“Like you wouldn't believe,” Bonnie replied.

Again, a silence spread between the two of them and the Doctor racked his brain for something else to say, for something to lighten her mood. Something was different today and he really couldn't put his finger on it.

“Hey, the weather is lovely,” the Doctor said after a while. “Would you like to go for a walk? I mean, Hyde Park isn't far. We could stand in Speaker's Corner and listen to people proclaim that the government's shit we're all going to die. That sounds like a fun activity for a Saturday afternoon.”

Finally, a smile appeared on Bonnie's face and she looked up and beamed at him. That was the Bonnie he had come to know, the Bonnie he was falling for. The Doctor hadn't really been aware of it until now, but as he looked at her in the small café with the afternoon sunlight flooding through the windows, he realized that he could actually fall in love with her.

“You have a very odd idea of fun activities for a Saturday afternoon, Doctor,” she said, chuckling softly.

“Okay,” he replied and leaned forward just a little, “how about the London Eye?”

The reluctance was visible on her face before she even spoke. “I'm actually a bit afraid of heights.”

The Doctor shrugged. “What if I protect you?”

“From the heights?”

He nodded enthusiastically and in response, Bonnie uttered another laugh. “Alright. Why not? Let's go and see London from above.”

 

The Doctor was relieved to see that Bonnie's mood had shifted somewhat as they approached the London Eye a short while later and he took it as a sign that it wasn't because of him that she had been quiet at the table. Maybe it was just like Bonnie had said and she had a rough week behind her. The Doctor could only imagine what it must be like to work as a private security contractor and he assumed that some jobs were a little more challenging than others. However, once they had stepped into one of the capsules and it started to move, she seemed uneasy yet again. He heard her take a sharp breath.

“Are you okay?” the Doctor asked carefully and turned towards the slightly shaken Bonnie who looked utterly terrified at the prospect of being lifted above London in a few minutes.

“Yes,” she replied meekly, then corrected herself. “No. I'm scared of heights. More than I would have thought.”

The Doctor granted her a soft smile and took her by the hand to reassure her that the London Eye and the height were really nothing to be even remotely scared of. “I told you I'd protect you,” he promised again.

“You know when people say they're scared of flying,” Bonnie replied nervously and he noticed that her hand was trembling in his own, “they're actually scared of suddenly not flying anymore. This is the same.”

“Bonnie, this thing has been working for 18 years,” he told her calmly. “It won't collapse the one time you're on it.”

Eventually, she inhaled deeply and the Doctor could feel that the shaking was subsiding a little. She would enjoy it, he was sure of that, as soon as she saw that there was nothing to be afraid of.

“Come on, you're missing the view,” the Doctor said softly and gave her hand a reluctant tug so as to still give her a chance to pull away. However, Bonnie didn't. Instead, she let him drag her towards the window from where they could overlook almost all of London.

“Big Ben doesn't seem so big anymore,” she remarked with a shrug.

Bonnie was smiling and the sight of it was more beautiful than the one beneath his feet. Even though she was afraid, she was enjoying it at least a little and the realisation of that filled him with a hint of pride.

“Look, there's the restaurant I'll take you to later,” he explained and pointed in the vague direction, but they couldn't actually see it from up here.

Bonnie still held a firm grip on his hand and he noticed that she was slowly inching closer to him and the Doctor decided to meet her halfway. He let go of her hand and instead, placed his arm around her waist to pull her against his chest. It had been so long since he had held a woman like that and he could feel his heart skip a beat.

“Is it nice?” Bonnie wanted to know while she nuzzled her cheek against his arm.

The Doctor chuckled. “I hope so,” he replied sincerely. “I don't wanna disappoint you.”

“Is it as nice as snogging on the London Eye?”

His head shot around and when he looked into her face, he noticed that her fear was gone and was instead replaced by an impish smile, one that he had come to know fairly well by now. His heart leapt with joy. Yes, he was on his way to falling absolutely and madly in love with that woman.

Slowly, he reached out and lifted her chin. Her skin was so incredibly soft under his thumb and her lips were so inviting that he couldn't help but caress them with the tip of his finger for a moment.

“Nothing is quite as nice as kissing you,” he replied and he meant it.

When Bonnie smiled at him, the Doctor couldn't help himself. He bent down until their lips touched and when she sank against his chest, he closed his arms tightly around her, not caring that they weren't the only people in the capsule. Bonnie was the best thing that had happened to him in recent years and he was falling in love.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the sweet comments :) Someone said something about a perfect relationship?

Clara sucked a deep breath in through her nose when she woke up and even though she was still half asleep, she could tell just how comfortable she was in a bed that wasn't even her own. Everything felt so warm and soft and the scent of the Doctor's aftershave clung to the sheets. Once again, she breathed it in deeply and smiled to herself. Like this morning, everything with him was so wonderful. He was kind and smart and he made Clara laugh even when she really didn't feel like it. There was something so endearing about him that she couldn't help but love.

Love. Yeah, Clara figured that she was falling in love with him, slowly, sweetly, in a way that hadn't happened to her in years. There was only one big, fat problem.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” the Doctor whispered softly and a moment later, she could feel the stubble on his chin scratch the sensitive skin as he planted kisses along the line of her neck.

“Morning,” she mumbled sleepily and turned around in his embrace, granting him a broad smile. The sun was already up and at some point, the Doctor must have opened the curtains because the entire bedroom was plunged in daylight. “What time is it?”

“Past 9,” he replied. “I may have sneaked out of bed to make breakfast. Hungry?”

“You're perfect. Can I keep you?” Clara joked and leaned forward to leave a short peck on his lips before she lifted herself up into a sitting position.

The Doctor seemed a little surprised, either by her sudden movement or by what she had said, but he quickly regained his composure and sat up next to her. “So, uhm, I wasn't sure what you like, so I made waffles. Everyone likes waffles, right?”

“I definitely like waffles,” Clara reassured him with a smile.

Finally, his face lit up as well and Clara felt him reach for her hand a moment later before he pulled her out of bed and in the direction of the kitchen. As they walked through the hall, Clara couldn't help but admit that she liked his house. It wasn't exceptionally big or fancy and when she looked closely enough, she could tell that it was a bachelor pad inhabited only by a single man and his teenage daughter, but she liked it. It was definitely homely and comfortable and it suited the Doctor very well.

The smell of coffee and fresh waffles filled the kitchen when she entered it and the Doctor had even gone through the effort of setting the table. Right now, Clara really wanted to keep him.

With a smile, she sank down in one of the chairs. “Smells amazing,” she noted happily. “When did you do all of this?”

“I woke up an hour ago,” the Doctor explained while he poured them coffee. The heavenly scent only increased. “But you looked so happy asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake you, especially when you said you had a tough week.”

“Effort definitely appreciated,” Clara replied earnestly and instantly, her guilty conscience sprang back to life. The only tough part of her week was meeting him and worrying about what she was going to do about all the lies she had told him by now and here he was, making her breakfast after spending a lovely day and night together. Maybe the moment had come at last, the moment for her to be honest.

Clara inhaled deeply before she spoke. “Doctor, there's something I want to talk to you about,” she said carefully and glanced up to see that the Doctor was looking back at her expectantly.

To her surprise, he chuckled. “Funny,” he remarked, smiling coyly in her direction. “I was just about to say the same thing.”

She hadn't expected that. Out of all the things Clara had thought she would hear, this was not one of them. What could the Doctor possibly want to talk to her about? “Uhm, alright,” she spluttered. “You go first.”

“No, you go first,” he said. “You started, so-”

“No, really, you should go first,” Clara insisted and she realized that her voice was shaking a little. She was nervous. “When people say they have something they wanna talk to me about and then don't say it, it makes me anxious.”

He chuckled softly and lowered his gaze to his empty plate. “Okay, well-” the Doctor broke off, obviously needing a moment to gather his thoughts. He seemed as if he was a little too scared to look at her directly. “Bonnie, I want to be honest with you. I like you.”

The words didn't surprise so much as the sincerity with which he said them and Clara raised her head to look at him only to meet the Doctor's shy, insecure glance.

“I like you, too,” she reassured him, hoping it would be enough to ease his mind.

Finally, the Doctor cracked a smile. “I'm really not the type to meet people at a bar and not the type to take them home afterwards. It's just not me, but it happened and I want to know-”

“What?” Clara asked kindly. “What do you want to know?”

He shrugged softly. “What we're doing. Where this might lead. If you like me as much as I like you,” he admitted. “I just wanna know where I stand with you.”

Clara felt a little taken aback by his questions, but she had to admit that she had been asking herself the same things – only she was also worried about what he would do once he found out who she really was. Would he still date her as his daughter's teacher? Clara honestly couldn't say and she liked him too much to take that chance right now.

So instead of saying what she had meant to say, Clara smiled at him. “I'm not sure I'm ready to put a label on it,” she admitted, biting down on her lip. “But I want to keep seeing you, spend time with you, I also want to see where it might lead and I'm open for that.”

She thought that a weight seemed to have dropped off his shoulders when the Doctor blew the air out between his lips and smiled at her, that sincere, heartfelt smile. “That makes me really happy,” he confessed.

“Me too,” Clara said, beaming back at him. Her relationship with the Doctor could have been the best thing to ever happen to her hadn't it been for the lie it had started with. Somehow, she would have to think of something. Someday, she would have to come clean. But what if she didn't have to do that? What if there was another way? An idea was beginning to take shape in her mind, but she needed to think about it, she needed time to consider her options. Somehow, she would have to find a way to stay with him without breaking his heart.

“It's a shame I won't be able to make it next weekend,” he admitted sadly. “Rosie and I wanna spend some quality time.”

“That's okay,” Clara said immediately. “Your daughter comes first, I get it.”

The Doctor lifted his head and again, he seemed a little insecure. “Maybe we could do something together sometime. Not immediately, of course, but at some point. You could get to know her.”

Clara opened her mouth, but the words got stuck in her throat. That would end in a disaster, but how was she going to explain that to him?

“I know it might be weird cause you look like her English teacher, but she'll get it,” the Doctor threw in. “And like I said, it doesn't have to be right now.”

She smiled at him in return and finally reached for her cup of coffee before it turned cold. “I'm sure that can be arranged. I bet she's a great kid.”

“She is,” the Doctor replied with a smile and followed Clara's lead by reaching for his coffee. “I'm sure you'll like each other.”

Clara already knew that they liked each other, but would Rosie still like her once she realized that her English teacher was dating her father? That remained to be seen and Clara needed to come up with a plan.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all your comments! Today, Clara hatches a plan. But will it work?

“You're acting suspiciously,” Bonnie remarked and raised an eyebrow at her over her coffee mug. “Why are you in such a good mood? I thought you were busy freaking out over your crush and all the lies.”

Clara grinned at her in response. “Not anymore,” she announced proudly. It was perfect and she had come with it all by herself.

“You finally told him the truth and he was okay with it?”

Clara shook her head, still smiling. It was better, much better. “I'm never gonna tell him the truth because the Doctor is a decent guy and he would never forgive that.”

Her sister's frown only deepened. “Then why are you so happy?”

Clara giggled excitedly, eager to share her most excellent plan with her sister. Bonnie was sure to praise her genius for that. “I have come up with a plan that will allow me to be with the Doctor without ever having to tell him the truth. Trust me, it's perfect.”

Still, Bonnie didn't seem entirely convinced. In fact, she seemed to grow warier by the second. “You're not gonna ask me to switch identities forever, are you? Cause we discussed that and I'm not teaching kids.”

“No, silly!” Clara argued and set her coffee mug down. She was too excited by the recent revelation and the caffeine only fuelled her excitement. “I am going to make him fall in love with me.”

She never received the reaction she had expected because Bonnie pulled a face instead of congratulating her for coming up with such a clever, ingenious idea. Clara had to admit that she was a little disappointed until she realized that her sister wasn't getting it yet. “I thought that was already happening?” she enquired curiously. “I mean, from what you've told me at least.”

“He is falling in love with Bonnie,” Clara corrected her. “Well, my version of Bonnie which is basically me but with a different name and job. And if he can fall for Bonnie, he can fall for Clara Oswald as well and I am going to help him.”

“Okay,” Bonnie replied eventually and sat up straight, “let me rephrase that to see that I got this right. You are going to seduce the same man twice? Only this time, you will do it as Clara the teacher even though you know his daughter is your student and even though he's already in love with someone else who is actually you?”

“Exactly,” she confirmed, but her voice had lost some of its enthusiasm. When Bonnie phrased it like that, it suddenly didn't seem like such a perfect plan anymore. But it could still work, couldn't it? She just had to make him fall in love with her again.

“That is the craziest thing I've ever heard,” her sister remarked after a moment, scoffing. “Actually, it's so crazy that it just might work.”

Relieved that Bonnie seemed to agree with her idea, Clara sank back into the sofa cushions. Even if her sister hadn't agreed with her, she wouldn't have known what else to do. The Doctor was such a sweet man and she couldn't bear the idea of losing him before their relationship had even started. And lose him she would as soon as he found out that she had lied to him. No, this plan was really the best option she had and Clara prayed that it would be successful.

* * *

The Doctor was tinkering with something without really knowing what it would eventually turn out to be, but he had grown tired of using his ordinary screwdriver. Maybe he could build an enhanced one? One that worked with magnets? He wasn't sure yet, but he had a feeling that today wasn't the day he would find out when the door to his workshop opened and his daughter stepped inside. She had finally come home from school.

“Got a letter for you,” Rosie announced as she threw it onto the workbench and plopped down in the seat next to his own. His daughter looked exhausted and happy to be home at last.

“Hello to you, too,” the Doctor said sharply and reached for the letter before he opened it with his screwdriver. He had no idea what it could possibly say when they had only met with the teachers last week. Luckily, he was about to find out.

_Dear Mr and Mrs Saxon,_

The Doctor scoffed. One day, he would have to remind the school that he was not, in fact, named Saxon and that he didn't like being associated with his ex-wife's name, but for now, he decided to read on.

_we are happy to announce that the annual school ball will take place on the 6th of October and all students are invited to join us for a wonderful evening filled with music and dancing. A large buffet will offer a variety of foods (vegetarian and vegan included) and a DJ will take your music choices into consideration._  
_However, we are going to need your help. The school is looking for volunteer chaperones for either part of the evening or the entire ball to watch over the children along with a list of teachers who have already signed up. If you are interested or have further questions, please contact Miss Oswald (English) for any queries._

_P.s. We would like to remind all the students and their parents beforehand that the consumption of alcohol and drugs are prohibited during any school events. ___

__“Damn,” the Doctor cursed, “looks like you'll have to leave your meth at home this time.”_ _

__“A ball?” Rosie asked, wrinkling her nose._ _

__He grinned at her in response. “What do you say? Shall we send your mother to chaperone?”_ _

__“Not if you want there to be survivors,” his daughter replied. “Besides, Miss Oswald asked whether you might want to. She said that you could get to know the teachers and parents a little better.”_ _

__The Doctor lowered his eyes to the letter once again and he had to admit that Miss Oswald wasn't wrong about that. A school ball was a good opportunity to talk to the teachers and fellow parents in a casual atmosphere._ _

__“You don't seem very eager to go,” he remarked after a while._ _

__Rosie shrugged. “I'm not sure if a ball is really my thing,” she admitted._ _

__“Well, you won't know unless you try, will you?” the Doctor said and granted his daughter a smile. Maybe she was still a little young for this sort of event, but all the students were invited and he was sure that some of her classmates would be attending as well. “I won't force you to go and I won't volunteer unless you're there, but you should consider it. It might be fun. And I'm sure your mum could be convinced to have a generous moment and buy you a pretty dress.”_ _

__Finally, Rosie cracked a smile. She wasn't the type of girl who loved dresses, but the Doctor could tell from the look on her face that even she would love to get dressed up and look like a princess for a night._ _

__“Alright,” she said after a while. “I mean, my friends are going. At least I'll have someone to hang out with if it gets too boring.”_ _

__“That's the spirit,” the Doctor concluded and folded the letter back up. “And I'm going to talk to your English teacher when I pick you up on Friday.”_ _

__“You're gonna pick me up on Friday?” his daughter asked, eyebrows raised._ _

__“Of course,” he replied as if it should have been obvious. “Father-daughter-weekend, remember?”_ _

__In response, Rosie grinned at him and it reminded him that he still needed to think of something to actually do next weekend – and he would have to think fast._ _


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your comments *group hug* :)

While Rosie went ahead to wait in the car, the Doctor decided to pay her English teacher a little visit to volunteer for the October ball. He wasn't exactly keen on babysitting a bunch of teenagers, but he couldn't deny that it was a good opportunity for him to get to know the teachers and parents a little better without Missy in tow. At least there was no one to threaten or call the teachers stupid.

He made his way through the long corridors, following his daughter's instructions on how to find the classroom, until he came to a halt in front of a door and peered inside through the window. The Doctor smiled when he spotted her through the glass and instantly reminded himself that it wasn't Bonnie but her twin sister that he was looking at even though she bore a freaky resemblance to the woman he was seeing. By now, he had memorized Bonnie's face so well and comparing her to her sister, the Doctor couldn't spot a single difference. Her eyes were the same dark brown shade, her nose possessed the same cute upward twist and he was willing to place a bet on the fact that Clara Oswald had dimples when she smiled. They even wore their hair in the exact same fashion.

The teacher didn't hear him when he stepped inside and it seemed that Clara Oswald was a little too focused on what she was writing on the blackboard that he was afraid to scare her if he just suddenly announced his presence.

“ _The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid_ ,” the Doctor said instead and with a start, Miss Oswald spun around on her heels and looked at him. She seemed startled and the Doctor suddenly felt a little bad for not knocking. “Sorry, uhm, I should have knocked.”

“What did you say?” the teacher asked, her large eyes staring at him. “Uhm, before the knocking bit, I mean.”

“Oh, well, Jane Austen,” the Doctor replied and nodded towards the blackboard where she had scribbled a few dates. “That's wrong, by the way.”

“Huh?” Clara gawked at him and it was so clear to him by now that he had taken her completely by surprise.

“The date,” he explained slowly. “Pride and Prejudice was written in 1796, not 1797.”

Suddenly, Clara Oswald's gaze darkened a little and it took her only a few seconds before she glowered at him. “What? You're an expert on Jane Austen?”

“No,” he replied and lifted one of the books that were lying on the surface of every single table in the classroom. Miss Oswald was obviously preparing for the next class on Monday. “It's on the back of the book.”

Clara Oswald cleared her throat and she seemed definitely uncomfortable when she stepped back towards the blackboard and corrected her little mistake and from one moment to the next, the Doctor could tell that Rosie's teacher was someone who absolutely hated being wrong. Well, he supposed that it was something they had in common, but he doubted that it would make things easier and less awkward between them when he had hoped to correct the terrible first impression he had made at the parent-teacher evening.

“Well, I assume you're not here to lecture me about Jane Austen, am I right?” she asked after a while and when she smiled at him, the Doctor could tell that it was forced. Suddenly, he came to the realisation that it wasn't going to be awkward just because of Rosie, but he was dating this woman's sister. If things became serious, he should make an effort to get along with Miss Oswald.

“No, I'm here to volunteer for the ball,” he explained. “As chaperone. I got a letter saying you were looking for volunteers.”

“Right,” Clara Oswald replied after a few moments and to his surprise, she turned around and started rummaging through the papers on her desk. It took her a moment, but eventually, she seemed to have found what she was looking for. Clara produced a list and handed it to him. “Will you be there for the whole night or just a few hours?”

“Can I stay for as long as Rosie wants to stay?” the Doctor asked. “It's her first ball and she isn't sure how much she'll like it.”

“Of course,” the teacher reassured him, “that's fine. We've already got a couple of volunteers to keep us covered.”

The Doctor granted her a quick smile before he lowered his gaze to the list and discovered a couple of names that meant nothing to him. He signed his own name under the rest and while he glanced up, he noticed that Clara Oswald was not only organizing the event, she would also be one of the volunteers. That wasn't going to be awkward at all. For a moment, he wondered whether her sister had mentioned him or whether he should say something about that, but he decided that it wasn't his place.

“Well,” he said, exhaling sharply as he handed the sheet back to her, “I should probably get going. Rosie is waiting in the car.”

The Doctor was already in the process of turning around when Clara Oswald suddenly spoke again. “Will you be attending the ball on your own or with your wife?”

He looked back at her, frowning a little. “If you're talking about Rosie's mother, she's my ex-wife. And my name is actually John Smith, so it would be nice if future letters wouldn't be addressed to Mr and Mrs Saxon.”

At first, the teacher looked a little taken aback, but then she uttered a soft, nervous laugh. It was so strange that she laughed exactly like Bonnie. “Hard feelings, huh?”

His initial thought was to tell her that his marriage was none of her business, but the Doctor decided that it was better not to be rude. Missy had already made a bad enough impression in that department for them both.

“I should go,” he told her instead. “Rosie is waiting.”

The teacher nodded. “See you at the ball,” she replied. “And thank you for volunteering.”

The Doctor gave a nod in reply and was glad when he finally closed the door behind him, yet he couldn't help but take a last look through the glass window and he saw that Clara Oswald was covering her face in both her hands as if in embarrassment. She really was a strange woman.

 

Rosie was already sitting in the passenger seat when he stepped into the vehicle and the first thing the Doctor did was to turn down her music. His daughter didn't protest. Instead, she seemed glad to be going home at last.

“Your teacher is really weird,” the Doctor could help but say.

“Miss Oswald?” Rosie enquired.

He nodded gravely and in his mind, went over the strange encounter and by now, he wasn't entirely sure whether the awkwardness really came from him. Maybe Clara Oswald knew about him and Bonnie. He would have to ask her about it.

“I still think she's nice,” his daughter said. “She realized I hate being called by my full name and made sure all the teachers knew.”

“That's. . . uhm. . . that's nice of her,” he replied. It didn't change the fact that it was extremely strange between the two of them and the Doctor somehow couldn't put it straight. Maybe at the ball, they would have a chance, but for now, he decided to ban the thought from his mind.

The Doctor turned around and beamed at Rosie. “McDonald's, Subway or KFC?”

His daughter seemed to consider it for a moment. “I think today is a Subway kind of day.”

“Excellent choice,” he agreed and turned the key in the ignition before he drove off, hoping to leave his worries about Rosie's teacher behind.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your sweet comments!
> 
> Now, looks like Clara's plan sounded easier in theory. Can it get even more awkward?

Clara normally loved babysitting her friend's daughter Melody, but Amy and Rory had really picked a lousy weekend to sort through a little spat they had had. That was how Clara had ended up at the zoo with a nagging 5-year-old who kept asking for more ice cream even though they had agreed on saving that for when they had finished looking at the animals. She understood that Amy and Rory needed some time to themselves, but she couldn't help but curse their timing when Clara had a bunch of school papers waiting on her desk and her own problems to worry about.

“Auntie Clara,” the little girl suddenly exclaimed and tugged at her hand, “can we go look at the zebras?”

The zebras weren't really on their direct route through the zoo, but Clara didn't have much of a choice when Melody started dragging her in the direction of the striped animals.

“Didn't you want to see the elephants first?” she asked even though she knew that it was no use. Melody changed her mind every five minutes and for now, she should be grateful that the girl wasn't begging for ice cream again. Clara didn't really blame her. This morning, she had witnessed her parents' fight and had taken some convincing to make her go to the zoo in the first place.

The girl ignored her and dragged her towards the zebra enclosure until they came to a halt in front of the fence. Clara took a deep breath once they stopped, knowing it wouldn't be long until Melody changed her mind again. Why on earth did Amy and Rory have to pick this weekend to fight?

While Melody was focused on the zebras, Clara decided to let her gaze wander over the people around them. She saw happy couples, parents with their children, grandparents with their grandchildren, all of them eager to enjoy the late Summer sunshine on a warm day without rain. For a brief moment, she wondered whether she and the Doctor would ever go to the zoo together or whether she had doomed their relationship by lying to him. By now, she was no longer sure that her plan to make him fall in love with her real self would work and if it did, it would take time. For how much longer could she keep up the pretence of being Bonnie? Clara couldn't say.

When she turned back around to where Melody was standing, however, Clara instantly spotted a surprise – one she hadn't expected in a million years. The odds really were against her in this.

“You,” she blurted out before she could think better of it. Clara cursed herself internally. She couldn't make a decent impression on him if her life depended on it.

“Uhm,” the Doctor stammered, obviously as surprised as she was. He didn't know who she was and it was then that Clara also noticed the teenager next to him.

“Hello Miss Oswald,” Rosie greeted her with a smile and it felt like at least a small weight was lifted from her shoulders.

She straightened herself and tightened her grip on Melody's hand before she cleared her throat. “Hello Rosie, hello Mr Smith,” Clara greeted them, nodding in their direction. She couldn't pretend to be Bonnie, not here, not with Melody, not with his daughter present.

“Hi,” the Doctor replied hesitantly and Clara could tell that he was still adjusting to the idea of her not being Bonnie even though she was. How did she ever end up in this mess? “Nice weather for the zoo, isn't it?”

Small talk. Awkward small talk. Clara assumed that it was better than nothing. “Definitely,” she agreed. “Have you, uhm, have you seen the lions yet?”

“Yes,” he agreed but swiftly corrected himself. “No, uhm, they were sleeping behind the rocks. Couldn't see much.”

Clara cleared her throat. “You should try again later.”

She groaned internally because of her inability to have a normal conversation with him. Why was she like this? It worked perfectly well when she was pretending to be her sister, so why couldn't she do it now?

“Who are these people?” Melody suddenly asked, giving her hand yet another tug.

Clara put on a smile and tried her best to stop talking nonsense. “Melody, this is Rosie, one of my students and her father, Mr Smith,” she explained and then turned to look at the Doctor once more. “I'm babysitting for a friend today.”

“I'm not a baby!” the child protested loudly and Clara almost flinched at the volume.

Clara watched Rosie pinch her father. “We should probably get going before it gets dark,” she reasoned.

“Yeah,” he breathed in reply and then turned to look straight at her. Whenever the Doctor looked at her, the real her, Clara thought he was seeing Bonnie. “Have a nice day.”

 

When the Doctor had Rosie had left, Clara exhaled sharply and uttered a long, deep sigh.

“Weird,” Melody muttered next to her.

Clara scoffed. “You can say that again.”

* * *

“That was the weirdest conversation I've ever had to witness,” Rosie said as soon as they had walked far enough to be out of earshot. “Why were you so awkward?”

“I wasn't awkward,” the Doctor replied instantly. “Your teacher was awkward.”

“You were both awkward,” Rosie argued. “I've never seen Miss Oswald act like that. She's usually super cool.”

“Really?” he asked and he realized that the surprise was audible in his voice. Immediately, the Doctor started to wonder why she was only strange around him. Was it because he had started it and she was mirroring his awkwardness? Was it because he knew Bonnie? Or because she knew what exactly was going on between them?

His daughter shrugged next to him. “Maybe she has a crush on you,” she suggested casually.

The Doctor uttered a short laugh. “Unlikely,” he remarked.

“Why?” Rosie wanted to know. “Mum's new boyfriend is weird around her. Or maybe he's always weird, I don't know, but it could be a reason.”

“It's definitely not the reason,” the Doctor replied determinedly, but suddenly, he found himself considering it.

What if Clara Oswald did have a crush on him? Unlikely as it was, he couldn't deny that she was really acting quite odd and so far and he hadn't found a good explanation for her behaviour. What if she did have a crush on him? If her sister managed to find something attractive about him, then maybe, so could she. They looked the same, they had the same voice, they were absolutely identical. Maybe they also shared a common taste in men? Oh, that would be less than ideal. Then again, what were the chances?

“Alright,” his daughter said with a shrug. “If you say so.”

When the Doctor glanced at Rosie, he could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced, but how was he supposed to explain to her that he was already dating someone and that she was the spitting image of her teacher? No, he reasoned that it was a conversation for another day. He was about to point towards the ice cream cart and suggest to cool off a little when he spotted Clara Oswald already in the queue.

“We should try the lions again,” he suggested instead and when Rosie nodded, he was all too glad to turn around and leave Miss Oswald behind.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your sweet, sweet comments! I am so sorry, but I totally forgot to post a chapter on Thursday. School weeks always throw me a bit out of my normal post-chapter-after-work routine and I didn't realize it until last night when it was a bit too late to throw in the chapter. You'll get an extra one tomorrow to make up for that :)

Rosie pulled a face and it was enough for the Doctor to know that she was absolutely not looking forward to the birthday party her mother was throwing for her this weekend. Yet it was exactly what they had agreed upon. Sunday was Rosie's birthday, so her mother had organized something for Saturday night and the Doctor would pick her up in the morning and spend the rest of her birthday with his daughter. But for now, it was Saturday morning and she was due to visit her mother.

“I'm fairly certain your mother organized something fun,” the Doctor tried to cheer her up.

Rosie only growled.

With a sigh, the Doctor sank down in a chair and beckoned Rosie to follow his lead. Grudgingly, she did like she was told and sat down next to him and for a moment, the Doctor wondered if that was the start of the dreaded teenage years where she would become difficult.

“Rosie, I know we've never properly talked about the divorce because you were still quite young at that time, but I'm getting the impression here that you're not entirely fine with it,” he said calmly.

“I don't care about the divorce,” she muttered in reply.

“Really?” The Doctor arched up his eyebrows. “Cause it looks to me as if you might be blaming your mother and taking it out on her.”

When his daughter didn't respond and continued to stare at the floor in front of her feet, the Doctor decided to simply continue.

“I admit, she's not a perfect mother or a perfect person, but she loves you. You get that, right?”

Reluctantly, Rosie nodded.

“Good, cause she does. And it's not her fault that we broke up. Your mother and I are both to blame for that and the only person treated unfairly in this was you. I hated to move out and leave you behind, but it was necessary and I spent every day of the week missing you and I'm sure that your mother feels the same way right now. She's just not so very good at showing it.”

“I bet she planned something really stupid,” his daughter muttered under her breath. “She doesn't even know what I like.”

“Well, if she did, I'm gonna have a word with her, alright?” the Doctor asked hopefully and granted his daughter a soft smile.

Slowly, Rosie's features lit up a little.

“Come on, give her a chance,” he prompted her and leaned forward to give his daughter a little nudge.

“Fine,” she agreed eventually. “I'll get dressed.”

* * *

Even though the Doctor had been looking forward to spending the evening with Bonnie, somehow, he just couldn't shake the feeling that he was doing a terrible thing. It was the look on Rosie's face when he had dropped her off at Missy's house that still haunted him even hours later and he kept wondering whether she was having fun or whether he was just being selfish by going on a date instead of spending time with his daughter. Was he selfish? Or was he entitled to his own life? Well, Missy certainly was entitled to some quality some with Rosie and it was only right that he shouldn't waste the evening by sitting at home. But still, the thoughts kept nagging him.

“Okay, that is the fifth time you've checked your phone in the last twenty minutes,” Bonnie remarked after a while. “If I'm boring you, you just need to say so.”

His guilt only increased when he looked up at Bonnie and realized that she was right. Not only was he probably being a bad father for forcing his daughter to spend time with her mother, but he was also a quite terrible and rude date.

“I'm sorry, Bonnie,” he apologized instantly and put the phone away. “I swear, you could never bore me.”

“But something is bugging you?” she enquired, raising her eyebrows.

With a sigh, the Doctor pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair. The restaurant they had chosen was lovely and the food delicious, but he just couldn't enjoy himself, knowing that his daughter was probably not having a nice evening. The Doctor just felt like he was acting terribly.

“It's Rosie, my daughter,” he explained, exhaling sharply. Maybe talking about it would make him feel better.

“Is something wrong with her?” Bonnie wanted to know.

The Doctor took a moment to just look at the woman in front of him. Bonnie, so beautiful, so smart and so kind. The way she asked him in that compassionate voice just made him want to spill his entire heart. He also remembered the strange encounters with her sister and right now, he couldn't even believe that two women who looked so much alike could provoke such a different feeling in him.

“It's Rosie's birthday tomorrow,” he said after a while. “We had agreed that she was going to spend today with her mother and I'll pick her up tomorrow morning, but when I dropped her off today, she really didn't want to go. I admit that my ex-wife isn't the most attentive mother, but she loves Rosie and I hate to see her not wanting to spend time with her mother.”

Bonnie looked like she was going to say something immediately, but then stopped herself and considered her response. “Well, have you asked why? Maybe she and her mother have issues.”

Again, the Doctor sighed. “She just keeps saying that she lived with her mum for three years and that she wants to spend more time with me. I don't know if there are deeper issues behind it.”

“You should probably ask her,” Bonnie suggested and then granted him a smile. “But you shouldn't worry about it too much. I mean, Rosie has a phone, right? She'll call if she needs you.”

The smile on her face lifted his spirits a little and he knew that Bonnie was absolutely right. He had told Rosie to call and he knew that she would. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he was imagining it. Maybe Rosie was at Missy's place, having lots of fun right now while he was worrying unnecessarily.

“Thank you,” the Doctor said sincerely and reached across the table to hold her hand. Bonnie smiled when he did that. Then he remembered something else. “I ran into your sister again the other day. Well, it can hardly be avoided, you know, her being Rosie's teacher and all.”

“Oh?” Bonnie asked and once again, she averted her eyes. She had done that the first time he had mentioned Clara. Maybe the sisters weren't talking?

“She was a little weird. I mean, I was weird, too, but I'm mainly confused because you look so much alike,” he said, spluttering a little. “I was wondering if maybe you had told her about us and that was why she was being strange.”

“Uhm, I mentioned you, yeah,” Bonnie replied hesitantly.

The Doctor furrowed his brows at her, trying very hard to meet her gaze, but Bonnie was avoiding it expertly. Was there something she wasn't telling him? It was certainly the impression she gave off at the moment.

“Did she say anything about me?” the Doctor wanted to know, but he never received a reply to his question when his phone suddenly started to buzz next to him.

Rosie came back to his mind and he picked up the phone immediately, already knowing that it was her before he had even read her name on the caller ID.

“Is something wrong?” he asked into the phone before his daughter had a chance of saying anything.

“Dad, can you please pick me up? I can't stand this for another hour,” his daughter begged and she sounded either distressed or extremely annoyed. Right now, the Doctor couldn't tell and he didn't care.

“Did something happen?” he asked instead.

“No, just come and get me, please. Mum is being so stupid!”

“Alright,” the Doctor reassured her. “I'll be there in a bit.”

“Thank you.”

When the Doctor hung up and looked at Bonnie, it seemed as if she already knew what had happened and that he needed to go. As much as he regretted that their date would come to an end, his daughter came first and he knew that Bonnie would never hold it against him.

“I should probably go,” she reasoned and granted him a soft smile. “Take care of your kid.”

“Nonsense,” the Doctor interrupted her instantly. “I picked you up, so I'll drive you home as well.”

“No, you should go and get your daughter. My flat isn't exactly on the way.”

The Doctor rose to his feet and left a couple of pound notes on the table. “I'll drop you off after I pick up Rosie,” he said as he reached for his jacket and he noticed that Bonnie was about to protest, so he decided to silence her before she had the chance. “Don't worry. Rosie will like you.”

In response, Bonnie uttered a shy laugh, but she made no further attempt to change his mind. The Doctor ushered her out of the restaurant and back to the car.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me give you a massive *group hug* for the sweet comments! Just as I've promised, here's another chapter to make up for the missed Thursday!

Clara remained silent in the passenger seat for most of the way and even though they were going in the opposite direction of her flat, she racked her brain for an excuse as to why he needed to drop her off before picking up Rosie. There was no good outcome to this and she knew it.

“Don't worry,” the Doctor reassured her after a while. “I'll explain to Rosie that you're her teacher's sister. She's smart, she'll get it. Besides, she knew that I was on a date and she's fine with it.”

When they stopped at a red light, Clara turned her head and looked straight at him. The Doctor uttered a nervous laugh.

“Why are your eyes suddenly so big? There's no need to be scared. Rosie is my daughter and I want you to meet her.”

“I don't think this is the best timing,” she argued even though it wasn't the reason she was scared at all. She was scared because she taught Rosie almost every single day, scared because she knew that his daughter would see through it in an instant because the Doctor was absolutely right. Rosie was smart. And that was not how she wanted the Doctor to find out about her.

“I told you not worry,” he repeated, laughing softly. “I will tell Rosie that we went to have dinner and I'll have to drive you home because there's no way I'll let you walk through London on your own in the middle of the night.”

Sighing, Clara sank back into her seat. It didn't matter how often he told her not to worry, Clara was very much worried about what would happen if Rosie saw her. And as noble as the Doctor's intentions were, she just couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was the worst timing ever. Clara couldn't meet Rosie, not like this.

The Doctor eventually stopped the car in front of a small house and Clara knew that they had arrived at his ex-wife's place and that the moment of truth was upon her. Her heart was hammering inside her chest while she was waiting for Rosie to come out and she thought that she might have a heart attack before that happened.

“I'm sorry,” the Doctor suddenly said and when Clara turned to look at him, she was surprised to see him grant her a smile. “This isn't how I wanted tonight to go.”

“It's okay,” Clara replied meekly. “You know I understand.”

She understood, but still, she would have preferred to stay at the restaurant.

Clara uttered a small sound of surprise when the Doctor suddenly leaned forward and pressed a swift kiss to her lips. When they parted again, he was grinning at her.

“Sorry, I just had to,” he admitted and she watched the smile fade from his lips. “Wait here, I'll have a quick word with Missy and then we'll drive home, okay?”

Clara nodded even though she knew that in a couple of minutes, all of her lies could come crumbling down in case Rosie saw through her. Could she fool the daughter as well? Clara didn't know, but she knew that there was no chance of telling him the truth now as she watched the Doctor leave the car. He walked over towards the house, rang the doorbell and was let in, leaving Clara completely on her own.

Not knowing what else to do, she opened the car door and decided to get some fresh air while she waited. Maybe it would help her clear her head a little, so she got up to stand next to the car and breathed in the cool September air. All she had wanted was some fun and now here she was, in a mess she couldn't ever have imagined and she realized that she cared a lot more about the Doctor and even Rosie than she had ever expected. Clara hated the fact that she was lying to him when all she really wanted was for them to be together and she hated the thought of lying to Rosie, a sweet, innocent child.

Clara flinched when she suddenly heard shouting from inside the house and once again, she realized that she shouldn't be here at all. So Clara made a decision, the only reasonable decision.

* * *

As soon as the Doctor had assessed the situation, he sent Rosie to gather her things just so he could have a private talk with Missy. A man was lurking somewhere in the back and the Doctor assumed that he was his replacement, but as long as he shut up, he wasn't his concern.

“For the last time,” the Doctor hissed, trying is best to remain calm, “stop calling her Ambrosia. She hates that name.”

“Well, tough luck because it _is_ her name,” his ex-wife replied, raising her voice.

“Not for much longer,” he said and stood up straight so that he towered over Missy. She didn't seem impressed. “Because next week, Rosie and I will apply for a name change.”

At that, Missy started to laugh. “You will need my consent for that and you know it, otherwise you would have changed the name years ago,” she snapped.

“Either your consent or a court order,” he said sternly. “And if it comes to that, you can be damn sure that I'm going to apply for full custody of Rosie as well.”

The words hung in the air for a long moment and the Doctor dearly hoped that Rosie was still out of earshot. For years, he and Missy had tried their best to keep their arguments as far away from their daughter as possible, but the Doctor had grown tired of letting Missy call all the shots. She was their daughter, but if being with her mother upset Rosie more than it made her happy, it was time to make the change he hadn't wanted for Rosie's sake.

“You wouldn't dare,” Missy hissed.

Suddenly, the other man stepped forward. “May I say something?”

“No!” both the Doctor and Missy shouted in unison and the boyfriend backed away, luckily for him, because the Doctor wasn't nearly finished yet.

“Our daughter isn't three anymore and you have to stop treating her like a child who has no say in her own life,” he said loudly. “She can choose her own name, her own clothes, her own hobbies and you don't have the right to judge for that.”

“Oh, I suppose you'd be fine with her doing drugs, right? You'd never interfere because she has her own free will!”

“For God's sake, Missy, the one thing has nothing to do with the other and you know it!” he shouted. “You have no idea who Rosie even is! You never even bothered to find out! You're just trying to shape her into someone she's not!”

“I know my own daughter, thank you very much!”

“Really?” the Doctor asked blatantly. “What's her favourite band?”

His ex-wife hesitated. “Well, you know, the boys with the spiky hair, I don't know what they're called.”

“It's the Rolling Stones,” he deadpanned.

He watched Missy take a deep breath, but at last, she seemed to calm down a little. “That's not a good enough reason to take my daughter away from me. I can try, Doctor. I can make an effort.”

The Doctor considered her words for a moment and to his surprise, she seemed actually sincere. It wasn't what he wanted either. It wasn't what he wanted for Rosie. “It's up to you,” he replied calmly. “I expect your written permission for the name change by next weekend and I want you to apologize to Rosie.”

He waited until Missy nodded before he turned around and headed back into the hall where Rosie was already waiting for him. Of course, she had heard more than she should have. The Doctor could see the remainders of tears in her eyes.

He sighed when he came to a halt in front of her. “Let's go home, shall we?”

His daughter nodded meekly and only then did the Doctor remember that Bonnie was still waiting for them in the car.

“Uhm, Rosie, there's something I need to tell you before we get into the car,” he admitted.

His daughter's eyes widened a little. “What is it?”

“Before I picked you up,” he began softly, granting her a smile, “I was having dinner with Bonnie. She's still in the car, but we're gonna drive her straight home, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied with a shrug and finally, they headed out of the house. The Doctor was more than eager to leave Missy behind for now, but when they stopped in front of the car, he suddenly found his mood sink even further when he realized that Bonnie was gone.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clara screwed up, Missy screwed up even worse. . . how will the Doctor deal with it?
> 
> Thank you guys for your sweet comments :)

Clara ignored the whistling man as she passed him and lowered her head so no one would be able to see her tears. Five minutes after she had left, Clara had begun to regret her decision to walk to the nearest Tube station and then to Bonnie's flat, but she knew that it had been her only choice. She couldn't face Rosie and she couldn't face the Doctor after his fight with his ex-wife because she knew that her presence would only have made things worse. As she walked, Clara considered her options. Face to face, she would never tell him the truth because she was scared of what he would say. Her plan to make him fall in love with her real self was failing and she couldn't lose him, not the only decent man she had met in years.

“Hey, why are you looking so sad?”

The man who had previously whistled at her had now followed Clara and was blocking her path, but she was anything but in the mood for something like that tonight.

“Piss off!” Clara hissed and made her way past him, continuing her stride in the direction of Bonnie's flat. Maybe she should write the Doctor a letter and explain everything to him? She could explain that she had never meant to hurt him, that her feelings were sincere, but then what? Would he want to date his daughter's teacher?

“I was only trying to be nice!”

Clara ignored him and she breathed a sigh of relief when she turned around the corner and spotted Bonnie's flat ahead of her. In a few moments, she could sink down on the sofa with a glass of wine and forget about this horrible evening for a moment. Still, she couldn't quite shake what she had overheard when the Doctor and his ex-wife had shouted at each other. The words “full custody” had come up and she knew that the Doctor wasn't the type to throw them around if he didn't mean them. Had she made a mistake in running off? Maybe he needed her right now?

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she stopped in front of Bonnie's and the door opened as if her sister had guessed that she was about to have a visitor. Yet Bonnie was dressed to go out and her shoulders sank when she spotted Clara.

“I guess my dinner is cancelled?”

Bonnie wasn't a person who was particularly fond of hugs, but right now, Clara didn't even care as she flung her arms around her sister's neck and squeezed her tightly. When Bonnie closed her arms around her in return, Clara knew that it was exactly what she needed right now.

“Please don't say _I told you so_ ,” she begged quietly.

“I won't,” Bonnie promised. “Now come inside and tell me everything.”

* * *

Rosie had been quiet on the way home and the Doctor wasn't sure how to deal with her silence. He just felt like he needed to say something, to justify what he had shouted at Missy earlier, he wanted his daughter to understand. Yet when they stepped inside, the Doctor's eyes fell on the clock on the wall. It was two minutes past midnight.

“Hey,” he said softly and when his daughter looked around, he pointed at the clock. Then he smiled. “Happy Birthday.”

Rosie was reluctant, but eventually, she smiled at him in return.

“Wanna grab a cup of tea and have a look at your present?”

When his daughter agreed, the Doctor set out to prepare each of them a mug, only that his contained strong, black, coffee, something he needed right now after the events of the evening. While the water was boiling, he reached for his mobile phone and checked his messages, relieved to find one from Bonnie in his inbox.

_Sorry, I just had to leave. I felt like I shouldn't be in the middle of this, especially not on your daughter's birthday. Don't worry, I got home just now. See you next weekend?_

The Doctor smiled before he typed out a reply.

_Glad you got home safely. See you next weekend :)_

Armed with their hot beverages, the Doctor and Rosie made their way into his workshop and by now, he was growing a little nervous about presenting her with the robot dog. He had checked it and double-checked it, but he was still afraid that it would fail him when it was most inconvenient.

The Doctor turned around and smiled at his daughter before he handed her an envelope containing her birthday card. Rosie took it reluctantly.

“Happy birthday,” he said gently. “Now open it!”

Rosie chuckled and did as she was told, but a frown appeared on her face when she saw the contents of the letter that only read:

_Say “K-9, come here”_

“What is that?” Rosie asked, the confusion audible in her voice.

The Doctor only nodded towards the slip of paper and finally, Rosie cleared her throat before she read out the words on the card. A whirring sound came from the corner and he breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that it was working just like he had planned.

“Yes, Mistress?” the robot dog's metallic voice said as he rolled in her direction, wagging its tail and turning its ears in all directions.

“Oh my God!” Rosie exclaimed immediately and went down on her knees to have a proper look. “It's a dog!”

The Doctor couldn't help but smile. His daughter liked it and the fact that she did made him insanely happy. “Well, you said you wanted a dog. I thought this would be more practical than the furry version.”

His daughter didn't seem to be listening because she was busy patting the dog's head which prompted it to wag its tail a little more.

“Ask K-9 something,” the Doctor told her.

Rosie considered it for a moment. “Can you do any tricks, K-9?”

“You can teach me tricks, Mistress. Right now, the only trick I can do is help you with your homework. Would you like me to read the Wikipedia article on Jane Austen?”

“Not right now, K-9,” Rosie chuckled. “Thank you.”

“Would you like me to sing Happy Birthday now?” the robotic voice asked.

“Yes,” the Doctor threw in. “Please do that.”

They sat back and watched as the dog performed a rather gruesome version of Happy Birthday, but even though she seemed genuinely happy about her present, the Doctor watched as the smile slowly faded from Rosie's face. When the dog grew silent, she sipped her tea, but he could tell that there was something on her mind, something she wanted to ask him.

“Are you really gonna apply for full custody?” she asked.

The Doctor inhaled deeply and the truth was that he didn't know, not yet. He had said it in anger, on the spur of the moment, but the anger had faded now along with his conviction.

“I don't know,” he admitted quietly and took another deep breath as he considered his response. “Above all, I want you to be happy and I believe that spending time with your mother is important, but not if she keeps disregarding your wishes. How do _you_ feel about it?”

Rosie shrugged. “I wanna see her, but she keeps treating me like a child. Are you actually gonna change my name?”

“Absolutely,” the Doctor confirmed. “Your mother chose it without my consent and you hate it. If she gives her permission, I'll drop the matter for now, I won't apply for full custody. I think she will give in.”

“Good,” Rosie concluded.

The Doctor leaned forward just a little to get a better look at Rosie. “Is there anything else about her that is annoying you? Her new boyfriend? Was she mean?”

His daughter shook her head. “Seb is alright, I guess. It really just bugs me that she ignores everything I tell her.”

He leaned back again, smiling. “Well, if she does it in the future, we'll just threaten her. Let's see how attentive she can be then.”

Finally, Rosie cracked a smile and the Doctor knew that it wasn't as bad as he had expected. They could fix it, he was sure of that. And above all, he was pleased with himself because he had obviously given his ex-wife quite a scare. Missy needed that from time to time.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, my faithful readers :) I have to admit, I loved writing the Doctor/Rosie scenes as well. The Doctor should just always have kids in my opinion!
> 
> But who's to say the Doctor and Clara can't be a little childish, too?

The Doctor smiled when Bonnie leaned back in his embrace and he knew that nothing could possibly ruin their date tonight. Rosie was having a sleepover with friends and he had personally dropped her off only a couple of houses from where they lived, he had made sure that the host's parents were present and that they were decent people, then he had gone home and packed a picnic basket and a couple of blankets to surprise Bonnie with a romantic meal by the Thames. They weren't even the only ones who had decided to use the warm September evening because he could spot two more couples a good distance away from them. Nothing could possibly ruin this night for him.

“I love this,” Bonnie said after a while. “It's actually even nicer than a restaurant.”

“Only in summer,” the Doctor chuckled before he bent down to kiss her. After their failed date last weekend, he had been a little nervous to see her again, but when Bonnie kissed him back, he felt reassured that he had nothing to worry about. His heart even skipped a little beat.

When their lips parted, Bonnie smiled at him. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Thanks for coming along,” he replied sincerely. “I realize that our last date didn't exactly go as planned.”

Bonnie nodded. “I'm sorry I just ran off. I heard shouting and I just felt like I really shouldn't be there.”

Groaning, the Doctor sank back on the blanket. “I threatened my ex-wife with full custody, something I had sworn I'd never do, but that night, she just really pushed my buttons.”

“How so?” Bonnie asked.

The Doctor turned around and scoffed. “Do you really want to listen to me rant about my ex?”

She shrugged. “Well, it looks like you need to get a couple of things off your chest. I don't mind.”

He considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “No, you shouldn't talk badly about people you spent a good deal of your life with. Especially not in front of the new girlfriend.”

The moment the words escaped his mouth, the Doctor wished that he could take them back, but to his surprise, Bonnie smiled at him.

“What if the new girlfriend insists?” she asked and even though the situation was anything but ideal, he liked the thought of being her boyfriend a lot. “Come on, tell me.”

With a sigh, he sat back up and looked out onto the river before he began to speak. “Missy picked Rosie's name. We had talked about options before Rosie was born, but then she just went ahead and registered her under the name Ambrosia. Rosie hates it and at her last school, the kids bullied her because of it, but Missy insists. She just doesn't accept any opinion that isn't her own, so I threatened her with a court order to have Rosie's name changed officially.”

Bonnie nodded, indicating that he should continue.

“I wouldn't have, but Missy just keeps using the name even though Rosie repeatedly said how much she hated it,” he explained, trying to justify his methods. “And it's not just the name. I think Missy has an idea in her head about how she thinks Rosie should be and that's just not her.”

“You did the right thing,” Bonnie reassured him. “I mean, your ex obviously doesn't listen to reason. Maybe she'll respond to threats. Maybe it'll get better.”

“I hope so,” he said and then uttered a growl. “I just wish I could annoy her as much as she's annoying me, like, break some of her things or. . . I don't know.”

To his surprise, Bonnie shrugged. “Why don't you?” she suggested. “I mean, you don't have to permanently break things to annoy her.”

A frown appeared on the Doctor's face and he watched her for a moment, more than a little curious about what she was talking about. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well,” she replied with an impish smile, “let's just say that I have a friend and before she met her husband, she was dating this guy and found out that he was cheating on her. So, she and I drove past his house one night and. . . threw eggs at his beloved car.”

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh out loud. “Seriously? You egged his car?”

Bonnie nodded. “He really loved that car and dried egg yolk is a pain to get off the paint,” she went on, still grinning a little. “I bet your ex-wife would be quite annoyed.”

“She would, yes,” he agreed, but he really wasn't sure whether it was the best form of revenge.

“So?” Bonnie asked, raising her eyebrows and the Doctor considered it for a moment.

 

An hour later, they sat in Bonnie's car which was parked down the street from Missy's house and he had been staring at her car for quite some time, still unable to make up his mind. The eggs were heavy in his lap and for a moment, he wondered how Bonnie had convinced him to buy them and drive all the way to his ex-wife's house. Now that he was here, he really wasn't sure whether they should actually go through with it.

“Doesn't it seem a little drastic to you?” he enquired and turned to look at Bonnie.

“Have you pictured your ex-wife's face yet when she discovers her egged car?”

A brief smile flashed across his face, but he quickly reminded himself not to act rashly. “I still think we should handle this like adults. I mean, we managed with the divorce.”

“You still really want to, don't you?” Bonnie asked and winked at him. “It's alright. I won't judge. Sometimes, you actually need a moment of petty revenge.”

The Doctor growled.

“For making you move out of the house you chose together,” she went on. “For keeping your daughter for three years before she decided she had had enough. For generally not being a nice person.”

“Fine,” he hissed eventually. He really wanted revenge, just a little bit. “Drive up to the car.”

Bonnie did as he had asked and slowly accelerated the car only to come to a stop again when it was perfectly aligned with Missy's Mercedes.

“Again, not like I had imagined this date to go,” he mumbled.

He heard Bonnie chuckle in the driver's seat. “I like it,” she replied. “It's naughty. Now throw the egg!”

She rolled down the window for him and the Doctor took one of the eggs out of the box and lifted his arm, aiming to throw it at Missy's car, but he still hesitated. Quickly, he turned around to face Bonnie once again. “What if she finds out it was me? It could have repercussions for my relationship with Rosie.”

“She won't, we're not even using your own car and if it comes down to it, I can be the jealous girlfriend who went a little crazy, but she won't figure it out,” Bonnie promised him. “Now throw the egg!”

The Doctor inhaled deeply, braced himself and finally did it. As soon as he had thrown the egg, the Doctor closed his eyes and he heard a bang as the shell broke on impact. He dared to look. The eggshell had long fallen to the ground, but the yolk was still sliding down the car door and he had to admit that it roused a quite satisfying feeling inside him. Petty as it was, Missy deserved it. He threw another. And then another.

The fourth egg, however, hit the hood of the car and a second later, the Doctor's ears were ringing with the sound of Missy's car alarm. He didn't even have time to brace himself before Bonnie pushed the pedal down and they were speeding off. It was only when they turned around a corner that the Doctor realized just what they had done and he started to laugh. Next to him, Bonnie chuckled as well and she raised her hand for a high five before they disappeared in the streets. This was by far the best date he had ever had and the Doctor had every intention to end it accordingly as soon as they got home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the sweet comments and I'm glad you enjoyed the Doctor's taste of revenge. However, all good things come to an end. . .

Bonnie was just about to have a spoonful of yoghurt when the Doctor sneaked up from behind and darted forward so the spoon landed in his mouth instead of her own. When she protested, he merely placed his arms around her from behind and pulled her against his chest.

“You are so unfair,” Bonnie complained half-heartedly. “I'm hungry.”

“I could make scrambled eggs,” he suggested, chuckling. “How about that? We have plenty left over.”

She laughed in response, that honest, heartfelt laugh. The Doctor loved that about her. Right now, as she was standing in his kitchen, wearing nothing but his shirt and socks, the Doctor thought that he loved her and it was tempting to just come out and say it.

“It's past midnight,” she argued, but the Doctor could tell from her face that she wasn't averse to the idea. “Then again, we've just been exercising.”

“And we could try to burn off the calories with some more exercise later,” the Doctor suggested, shrugging casually.

Bonnie turned around in his embrace and smiled at him. “I like that idea.”

The Doctor couldn't help himself. Right now, he was so happy, so in love that he had to cup her face in his hands and pull her up for a kiss. One moment, he was worried what his daughter might say about him dating someone younger, someone who looked like her teacher, worried that she might change her mind and think he was too old, but in moments like this, the Doctor knew that he had found someone special and that she was worth it. Bonnie just made everything better.

It was a sound that alerted him, but still, he didn't want to leave her lips and it was Bonnie who eventually gave him a gentle push, breaking their kiss. He wasn't quite sure why stepped away from him, but as he turned his head, the Doctor saw the reason for it. Rosie was standing in the door.

“I, uh,” she stammered, her eyes fixed on Bonnie as if in shock. “I forgot my toothbrush.”

A lot of things instantly went through the Doctor's mind. What his daughter would have seen had she come home just a little earlier. Whether someone had driven her here or whether she had walked home all by herself. It was only a couple of houses, but the Doctor really wasn't comfortable with the idea of his 13-year-old daughter alone on the streets of London at night. And then it finally dawned on him why she was gawking at Bonnie, but it was too late because Rosie was quicker than he was.

“You're dating my English teacher?!”

“No,” he replied in an instant and stepped forward, away from Bonnie. Damn, he should have put a shirt on because his daughter was clever enough to realize what had been going on. “This is Bonnie. She's Miss Oswald's sister.”

Rosie frowned at him and exchanged a glance between him and Bonnie, obviously trying to tell whether it was the truth. She didn't seem convinced.

“We're twins,” Bonnie threw in after a moment. She sounded a little nervous and the Doctor realized that this was probably not the best way for her and his daughter to meet, but the damage was already done and now they had to make the best of it. Bonnie smiled at Rosie. “It's nice to meet you, Rosie. Your father has told me a lot about you.”

“You sound like my English teacher,” his daughter went on. Well, she wasn't wrong. Bonnie and Clara were so much alike that it was practically eerie and he couldn't blame her for being confused, not when he was so often confused himself, especially in the presence of Clara Oswald.

“Twins,” Bonnie repeated and uttered a nervous laugh. Then she turned towards the Doctor. “I should probably leave.”

She pushed herself up on tiptoes and planted an innocent kiss on his cheek before she hurried off in the direction of her bedroom to fetch her clothes and the Doctor exhaled sharply once he and his daughter were on their own. Somehow, he had a feeling that the explanation would be long and painstaking.

“What's with all the eggs?” Rosie asked as she dropped down into a kitchen chair, nodding towards the box on the counter.

“Oh, uhm,” the Doctor spluttered. That was a part he should better leave out. “I was about to make scrambled eggs. Do you want some?”

Rosie gestured towards the door. “Marcy's mum is waiting in the car outside. I really just wanted to get my toothbrush,” she explained. “So, uhm, your girlfriend can stay.”

The Doctor inhaled deeply. “I'm sorry. I should have told you it was your teacher's sister. Must have been quite a shock,” he said and uttered a laugh.

Finally, Rosie cracked a smile as well and shrugged. “Now I know why you're so awkward around Miss Oswald,” she remarked.

The Doctor smiled at her in return. “Have fun at your sleepover,” he wished her.

 

When Rosie had left, he watched as Bonnie carefully stuck her head in through the cracked door. “How bad was it?”

The Doctor reassured her with a smile. “Not too bad,” he said.

Bonnie sighed in relief and stepped back into the kitchen. She had put her clothes back on and the Doctor regretted it a little, but maybe, he would have a chance to take them off again later. He spread his arms and closed them around Bonnie in a tight hug.

“I wanted to make a good impression,” she mumbled against his chest.

“She'll get used to it,” the Doctor promised her and left a soft kiss on the top of her head. “After all, I'm not gonna let you go anytime soon.”

He heard Bonnie chuckle before she closed his arms around him in return and once again, the Doctor felt sure that Bonnie was the best thing that had happened to him in years.

* * *

“Please read the next two chapters until Monday,” Clara explained and when the class started to groan, she cleared her throat to gain their attention. “I know, I know, you've all got a ball to attend and so do I, which is why I'm telling you this today. You'll have a whole week. It's only two chapters, I'm very confident that you can do it.”

Her class didn't seem so very enthusiastic about Pride & Prejudice, but then again, young adults rarely were and Clara comforted herself with the idea that some of them would rediscover Jane Austen later in their life and realize that they loved her works. And making them like a dead writer wasn't Clara's main concern right now, it was making her boyfriend's daughter like her. Rosie had been unusually quiet all day and when the class started to pack their things, she swiftly approached Rosie's desk to have a chance to talk to her. She had spent the last hour trying to come up with an excuse because officially, she had no knowledge of what had happened last weekend.

“Is everything alright?” Clara asked carefully. “You've been quiet today. I've missed your input.”

Rosie shrugged when she had packed her pencil case. “I'm just tired.”

“Really?” she enquired further and made sure that the rest of the class had left before she stepped a little closer. “Courtney hasn't been picking on you or anything? I know she tried to figure out your full name.”

It didn't escape her notice that Rosie was trying very hard not to look at her and even though the Doctor claimed that she had taken the little encounter on Saturday well, somehow, Clara doubted it would be so easy, especially after Rosie found out the truth.

“That won't be a problem,” Rosie replied after a while and finally lifted her head, staring straight at her. “We're gonna have my named changed soon.”

Clara smiled at the girl. “That's good,” she said sincerely.

“I need to catch my next class,” the girl said and quite abruptly, she lifted her suitcase and headed out of the door, leaving Clara in an empty classroom.

With a sigh, Clara leaned back against a table. As lovely as her last weekend with the Doctor had been, it still didn't change that there were many more hurdles in their relationship and she wasn't quite sure how they would ever overcome them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *grins at you all* Thank you for the comments!!!! Now that we're closing in on the ending, it's time to cause some trouble. . .

The gym looked quite impressive and the Doctor had to admit that Clara Oswald and some other volunteers had gone all out to make the ball a success and fun event for the children. Even his daughter seemed to like the decoration.

“Marcy is over there,” Rosie pointed out after a moment. “I'm gonna go and hang out with her.”

“You do that,” the Doctor replied and only now did it dawn on him that he would spend the entire evening on his own, standing in a corner. “I'll just, well, I'll do some chaperoning, I guess. Don't get drunk and snog boys.”

His daughter chuckled and he watched her head through the crowd towards her friend, but not without feeling a little sentimental. The Doctor was well aware that Rosie was no longer a child. She was a teenager now and tonight, she looked almost like a young woman. Missy had kept her promise. She had agreed to the name change and apologized to Rosie by taking her on a shopping tour to find an outfit for the ball. The Doctor couldn't imagine that his ex-wife had agreed with Rosie's choice because she was wearing a space-print dress with cartoon rockets and planets and she had brought her NASA hoodie in case she was cold. Still, Missy had bought the dress for her even though she surely hadn't liked it and the Doctor viewed it as a good sign. She was learning to accept Rosie and her decisions.

Not knowing what else to do, the Doctor made his way towards the buffet while the DJ was playing a quite annoying song and he decided to focus on the food while ignoring the noise of the so-called music. He picked up a snack and shoved it into his mouth. It wasn't half bad.

“You're supposed to chaperone the kids, not the food.”

The Doctor spun around and looked right into Bonnie's sweet, smiling face. Again, it took him a moment to realize that it wasn't actually Bonnie but her sister Clara and his heartbeat instantly slowed down. One day, he would get used to the idea that his girlfriend had a twin sister who just happened to be his daughter's English teacher.

“Miss Oswald,” he blurted out. “I, uh, just checking the food for poison.”

“Noble,” she remarked and chuckled as she extended her hand to him. The Doctor shook it. It was strange how her skin felt exactly like Bonnie's. “But seeing as you haven't keeled over yet, I assume the food is poison-free.”

The Doctor watched Clara reach for the same snack he had chosen before she took a bite and the sound of approval that she made told him that she liked it just as much as he did. It took him a moment to realize what was different and at last, he noticed that she was being extremely nice. Suspiciously nice. It astounded him after their previous encounters.

“Again, thank you for volunteering,” Clara Oswald said. “Rosie seems to enjoy herself.”

The Doctor let his gaze wander over the crowd and spotted his daughter at the far end of the room, dancing with several other girls. He smiled at the image.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I'm glad she's having fun. It's been a little complicated for her in the past few weeks.”

“How so?” her teacher wanted to know and the Doctor opened his mouth, ready to tell her everything, but then he remembered that she was Rosie's teacher and not his girlfriend. Somehow, Clara had the same way of making him want to pour his heart out.

“Oh well, family stuff,” the Doctor replied instead. “Her mother and I are divorced and it's not always easy, but I guess you hear that quite often.”

Miss Oswald nodded. “I think Rosie knows she can rely on you.”

 

“I don't know about you two, but I need a drink,” a blonde, tall woman said as she approached the buffet and came to a halt right next to them.

She scanned the selection, but obviously realized that she couldn't find what she was looking for and instead, turned towards the Doctor and Miss Oswald. He was sure that he had seen her before, maybe at the parent-teacher evening, and the Doctor assumed that she was one of the teachers. And if she was, he felt sorry for her students because, from the very first impression, the Doctor could tell that she wasn't a patient woman.

“I don't know if you've met at the parent-teacher evening,” Clara Oswald said, “but this is Miss Quill, the physics teacher. Miss Quill, this is Mr Smith, Rosie's father.”

“Rosie,” the physics teacher hummed in reply and looked up, obviously trying to remember if she knew her. “Rosie. . . Rosie. . . Rosie. . . Oh, Rosie. Yeah, she's my student, I think. Less stupid than the rest.”

The Doctor decided to take that as a compliment, but Miss Quill seemed to think the conversation about her student was over. Instead, she looked at Miss Oswald curiously, scanning her from head to toe for a reason he couldn't quite comprehend. Well, he could because Clara was very pretty and if he hadn't been dating her sister, he probably would have been tempted to check her out as well.

“Tell me, who am I talking to tonight? Clara Oswald or the twin?” Miss Quill enquired.

“What?!” Clara asked and she was pretending to sound surprised. It might have worked hadn't she added a nervous laugh. “I'm Clara. Clara Oswald. What does my sister have to do with this?”

The physics teacher shrugged. “The summer fête? The dinner party?”

“Uhm, what about it?” Clara asked carefully.

“You didn't quite seem yourself.”

“I was feeling under the weather,” Miss Oswald responded immediately and the Doctor watched her go up on tiptoes as if she was trying to make herself taller. Something was odd about her behaviour.

“Huh,” Miss Quill hummed and slowly turned around to walk away. The Doctor watched her as she made her way through the crowd and for a moment, he wondered whether Rosie had any normal teachers.

 

“So, uhm, is that something you do on a regular basis?” the Doctor asked and eyed Clara Oswald curiously. Maybe he had misjudged her and suddenly, he found herself liking her a little.

“What is?” she asked in return and granted him a smile. Clara Oswald knew exactly what he was talking about and it amused him a little that she was trying to play dumb.

He shrugged. “Switching roles with your twin sister,” the Doctor said in a casual manner, then he started to chuckle. He had to admit that it was brilliant. “Sending her to school events in your place. Don't deny it.”

For a moment, he thought that she would keep on denying it, but then she let her shoulders sink and sighed. “Okay, fine, I wasn't feeling well on the day of the summer fête, so Bonnie went in my place. She also went to the dinner party,” Clara Oswald admitted and then bit down on her lip.

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh. “That's really clever,” he said and he couldn't help but think that he was actually impressed. But then something occurred to him. “Wait, you're Clara Oswald now, right? You're yourself? Cause, honestly, I still can't tell you apart.”  
Miss Oswald smiled at him in return. “I'm myself,” she confirmed.

He wasn't quite sure what he had wanted to hear, but if she was Bonnie, it would have explained why she was being so nice and why he suddenly liked her. In fact, her response only confused him further. Would he ever get used to the idea that he was dating someone who had a living, breathing, walking replica?

The song changed and Clara's head turned towards the dancefloor. She was considering something, he could tell.

“Would you like to dance, Mr Smith?” she suddenly asked, taking him by surprise.

“Oh, uhm,” he spluttered. Could he dance with her? Was that allowed? Did he want to? The Doctor couldn't quite tell. “It would be rude to say no, wouldn't it?”

Clara Oswald chuckled. She chuckled in the exact same way Bonnie always did. “A little, yeah.”

“Alright,” he agreed and offered her his hand. When she took it, he could have sworn it was Bonnie.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments, guys! You asked for trouble? I give you trouble.

Finally, they were getting along. Clara had been close to giving up hope she could ever get the Doctor to like her real self, but as he led her towards the dancefloor and placed his hand on her waist, she could tell that he was nervous – but this time, in a good way. Not the babbling kind of nervous with the urge to flee, but the curious, insecure kind. Clara felt the same way. She had come to know the Doctor quite well, but this was like getting to know him once more from the beginning.

“Sorry, I'm not really a good dancer,” he mumbled after he had briefly stepped on her foot.

“I've had worse,” she reassured him with a smile. Damn, she had to stop smiling at him like that or he would grow suspicious, but the truth was that she hadn't seen him in a week and she had missed him. Still, she shouldn't make it so damn obvious.

The Doctor uttered a nervous laugh. “You're smiling,” he remarked and Clara quickly tried to get her emotions under control, but she was dancing with the man she was in love with and she was loving it. “Why are you smiling?”

“I like dancing,” she replied.

In return, the Doctor smiled at her as well. “You're hard to make sense of, you and your sister,” he admitted after a while, still leading her across the dancefloor. Clara hoped that his daughter was too busy having fun to pay attention to them.

“How so?” Clara enquired.

He replied with a soft shrug. “For one, you look identical,” the Doctor explained and she could feel his gaze on him. Normally, it made her nervous when people stared at her, but not him, especially not when he was smiling. “I couldn't tell you apart if my life depended on it. There's not a single difference.”

“It comes in handy every now and then,” Clara replied.

“Like the summer fête?”

Clara chuckled and she could feel the Doctor's hand firmly on her waist. He was gaining confidence. “Yeah, like the summer fête.”

Suddenly, the Doctor blew his air out between his teeth. “I wish I had a twin,” he remarked. “I'd send him to deal with my ex-wife.”

“She seems like a handful,” Clara said. She had to be careful what she was saying because officially, she had only met Missy once. “I mean, I only met her that one time at the parent-teacher evening, but-”

“Once was enough?”

“Yeah,” Clara confirmed, laughing.

The Doctor gave her a little twirl before he pulled her back and this time, she landed a little closer to his chest than she had been before. Not that she minded, quite the contrary, but she shouldn't show how much she was enjoying this.

“I'm sorry she had such a go at you that evening,” the Doctor said.

“It's okay,” Clara reassured him. “I've seen worse.”

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Clara saw something move and she turned her head just in time to see one of her students, Justin, rush outside. He slammed the door shut behind him and that was when Clara knew that their beautiful dance had come to an abrupt end.

“I'm sorry,” she said and nodded towards the door. “I should see if he's okay.”

 

She didn't wait for the Doctor's response when she let go of his hand and headed out of the gym through the side entrance and when she stepped outside, Clara noticed that the Doctor had followed her. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't mind either. Outside, she instantly heard the boy cry.

“Justin, are you okay?” Clara asked carefully.

The boy turned his back on her and sniffed. “Go away.”

Slowly, Clara stepped a little closer. She couldn't just leave him out here, no matter what he said. Cautiously, she placed her hand on his shoulder when she had reached him, but the boy stepped away.

“I said go away!”

Suddenly, the Doctor appeared next to her. In passing, he whispered something to her. “Let me.”

Then, he turned towards the boy. Clara decided to step back and give him a chance. Still, she would watch their conversation closely.

“Hey buddy, it's cold out here. You should have brought a jacket.”

The boy shrugged.

“Yeah, you're right,” the Doctor said. “We men are tough and we can stand a little cold, can't we?”

To her surprise, the Doctor took off his jacket and placed in on the ground in front of the boy before he sat down and patted the empty space next to him, indicating for Justin to sit down. Even though the night was mild, it was still October and she would bet that the Doctor was actually quite cold without his coat. Yet the boy didn't seem to mind talking to him as he sat down a few moments later.

“Is it a girl?” the Doctor asked carefully. “Cause I happen to be an expert on girls. I'm sure I can give you some advice.”

Clara had almost snorted in the background and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but it was too late. The Doctor had already turned around and shot her a dark look. She quickly grew silent.

“It's not girls,” Justin admitted reluctantly.

“Then what is it?” the Doctor wanted to know, his deep voice unusually soft and gentle. Clara could only imagine how many times he had used it to comfort his own daughter and she was quite certain that he had become good at it.

Justin hesitated. “I asked Tobias to dance with me,” he admitted.

“Oh.” There was a hint of surprise in his voice. “Well, what did Tobias say?”

No reply.

“Did he say something mean?”

Justin sniffed again and from the distance, Clara could see him nod. Next week, she would have a word with Tobias about that.

“Well, he's an idiot, that's for sure,” the Doctor determined. “Not liking someone is fine, but there's no need to be rude about someone's preferences.”

Again, the boy remained silent.

“Tell me,” the Doctor began, “is there a girl Tobias has a crush on?”

Justin nodded. “He fancies Rosie.”

Clara wasn't sure what the Doctor was going to do next, but she dearly hoped that he wouldn't go back inside to beat up a teenage boy. The Doctor didn't seem like _that_ type of father, but what if it was about his precious, little girl?

“Okay, here's what you're gonna do,” he said to Justin. “You will go to Rosie and ask her to dance with you.”

The boy seemed a little confused by that suggestion. “But I don't like girls,” he argued.

The Doctor shrugged. “It's just a dance,” he said. “But you know what? It'll _really_ piss off Tobias, knowing that you get to dance with the girl he likes because you're a nice, decent boy. And one day, you'll find another nice, decent boy who is gonna want to dance with you. In the meantime, there's nothing wrong with petty revenge. I'm sure Rosie wouldn't mind teaching that idiot a little lesson.”

Finally, Justin chuckled and Clara knew that the Doctor had managed to cheer him up and he had done it better than she could have imagined. Clara would never have thought of that, but it was brilliant.

“Now go back inside and ask her!” the Doctor prompted him and the boy didn't hesitate before he jumped up and darted past Clara and back into the gym. When Clara looked at him, the Doctor had already pulled out his phone and he was texting someone.

“Just a sec, I'm giving Rosie a little warning,” he said and a few moments later, he slid his phone back into his pocket and picked up his coat. “There, all done. And I think Tobias will think twice before insulting him aga-”

Clara didn't think. It was as if her brain has momentarily switched off and she was no longer in control of her own body, but she just couldn't help herself. The Doctor was likely the best man she had ever met in her entire life and she was so much in love with him already that she just stepped forward, went up on tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his, forgetting that she was Clara Oswald and she wasn't supposed to kiss her student's father.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I smell trouble. How about you?
> 
> Thank you so much for the sweet, excited comments on the last chapter :D Glad you enjoyed that last bit.

The Doctor parted his lips for her the moment she touched him and once again, he felt like the luckiest man on earth for having found such a wonderful woman when he had least expected it. It took him a moment, but once his brain had caught up with his feelings, his heart suddenly sank into his boots and he realized that he wasn't kissing his girlfriend, he was kissing her sister.

In an instant, the Doctor pulled away and gawked at her, wondering what on earth had happened and what had compelled her to kiss him and why it felt the way it had. The kiss itself had given nothing away. Bonnie and Clara were truly identical.

“Clara. . . uhm, Miss Oswald,” he spluttered, still unable to comprehend why she would ever kiss him when he was dating her sister.

“I'm sorry,” Clara apologized quickly and took a step back while lowered her gaze to her feet. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.”

Why had she done it? The Doctor couldn't think of a single sane reason and he needed to gather his thoughts, he needed a moment alone, he needed something else to focus on. Right now, it was simply too much for him. He opened his mouth to reply, but when he realized that no word would come out, the Doctor simply took to his heels and ran back inside the gym.

The moment he found himself among a large group of teenagers and the music was blasting in his ears, he knew that he wouldn't be able to find a quiet moment, he wouldn't be able to gather his thoughts here. It just wasn't possible. The Doctor glanced around the room, scanning the crowd for his daughter in the hopes that she might want to leave as well and he quickly spotted her. It took him a moment to assess the situation, but Rosie appeared to be arguing with someone. He didn't hesitate before he approached them. The Doctor was a chaperone after all.

“I told you to leave us alone!” Rosie shouted at one of the boys. The Doctor didn't recognize him, but he recognized the other one. Justin, the boy he had just sent to dance with his daughter. He took a wild guess and assumed the one being shouted at was Tobias – and that his daughter wasn't happy about his appearance. 

“Hey, is there a problem?” the Doctor asked gruffly once he had reached them. He pointed towards Tobias. “Is this one bothering you?”

“He called Justin a faggot!” Rosie had to yell over the loud music and she was still throwing Tobias a thoroughly deadly look.

“Well, he fucking is!” Tobias argued angrily. “Why the fuck are you dancing with him?!”

“Hey, language!” the Doctor interrupted them both. He glanced towards Justin who looked like he wanted nothing more than to leave. On the spur of the moment, the Doctor grabbed Tobias by the collar of his shirt and started dragging him towards the edge, away from the crowd and the noise from the DJ.

“Let me go!” Tobias protested and struggled against his grip, but the Doctor had no intention of letting him go before he had given him a nice, little lecture. “What do you think you're doing?!”

“Teaching you a little lesson in manners,” the Doctor growled in response as he came to a halt on the edge of the gym. He shoved Tobias aside and glared at him. Briefly, the image of Clara popped up in his head and he tried his best to push it aside because it confused him, because it made him angry and because he couldn't handle it right now, not when he needed to focus on the little arsehole that was after his daughter. “First, you need to stop being a homophobic arse! Whether you like it or not, some people are gay. Accept it. What you don't do is call them names, do you understand?! If I hear one more insult coming out of your mouth, I will make sure you won't have anything to say at all for a very long time!”

“Are you _threatening_ me?!” Tobias asked him and he assumed the posture of a bold, young man, pushing himself up on tiptoes to make himself taller. If the Doctor hadn't been so angry, he would have laughed at the vain attempt.

“Yes, I am threatening you,” he hissed in response. “Because if you don't leave my daughter alone, I swear, I will-”

“ _That's enough!_ ”

The Doctor spun around when he heard Clara Oswald's sharp, determined voice and he noticed that she was right behind him and that she had probably heard every single word. Could this evening get any worse than this? Yet he wasn't quite done with Tobias, so he turned back around to face him and glowered at the small boy.

“If you bother my daughter again, I will make sure that-”

Again, he didn't get to finish his sentence when Clara Oswald suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him away. She seemed as furious as he felt at the moment although he wasn't quite sure why he felt angry at all. Maybe it was about Tobias, maybe it was about the kiss, maybe it was everything.

“Doctor, stop this! You can't attack a student in the middle of the school ball!” she barked at him and shot him a dark glance.

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when he started to wrap his head around what Clara had just said, the Doctor started to frown at her. “What did you just call me?”  
The teacher ignored him and instead shifted her attention towards the boy who, by now, looked a little bit scared. That was a good thing, the Doctor thought.

“Tobias, you and I are going to have a little chat about your behaviour after class on Monday,” she told him sternly. “In the meantime, you can think of a couple of points for an essay about why homophobia has no place in modern society.”

The Doctor watched Tobias groan and roll his eyes in response. “But Miss, that's really unfair!” he protested.

The Doctor scoffed, but Clara seemed to ignore him. “You should have thought of that before you insulted Justin and hopefully, it will make you think twice next time. Now go.”

The boy didn't wait for his teacher to repeat herself before he vanished back into the crowd and the Doctor dearly hoped that he would also leave his daughter alone from now on. He looked around and found her standing next to her friend, looking like she would rather leave right now and he had to admit that he shared that sentiment. The Doctor really just wanted to go home.

Clara threw him a glance and then made her way past him and the Doctor couldn't find a single word to say to her, not even goodbye. He just wanted to go home and pretend like this evening had never happened at all. Rosie had probably sensed it or she felt the same way because a moment later, she was standing right now to him.

“Wanna go home?” he asked hopefully.

“Please,” Rosie begged and together, they made her way towards the exit.

 

“Is everything okay?” the Doctor asked as soon as they had stepped outside and were heading towards the car. “Tobias didn't bother you, did he?”

His daughter shook her head. “He was a jerk to Justin.”

He chuckled. “Well, I think he's going to regret that. Miss Oswald threatened to give him an essay on homophobia.”

Finally, Rosie's face lit up. “Good,” she determined, but then she turned around and looked straight at him. “What about you? Why are you so eager to leave?”

Because he could hardly tell his daughter the truth, the Doctor merely shrugged. “Bored,” he lied. His worries were something he could dwell on once they got home.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the sweet comments *blows kiss*

“This is so much better than the walk you had originally planned,” Clara remarked as she tucked her feet under the blanket and made herself comfortable on his sofa. The Doctor had wanted to take her for a nice walk, but the weather had turned kind of cold and dreary, so she really preferred the sofa, a nice movie and the cup of hot cocoa she was currently clutching in her hands.

However, the Doctor didn't seem to enjoy it as much as she did because he was unusually quiet. Clara had an inkling why that was, but she couldn't mention it, could she? Above all, she couldn't tell him that he had nothing to feel guilty about. Instead, she opted for trying to cheer him up.

“Earth to Doctor,” she hummed as she leaned forward and gave him a soft nudge. Finally, he turned his head and granted her a smile. It was shy, reluctant. He was really suffering from a bad conscience.

“Sorry, Bonnie,” he apologized quickly. “I guess I'm a little tired. I was tinkering in my workshop until 3 am.”

Clara took a deep breath as she looked at him and she realized just how weird the situation was. She had kissed him in the spur of the moment and she knew that she shouldn't have done that. Not as herself. Not yet. It was painfully obvious, however, that the encounter was still on his mind and that he was avoiding her gaze because of it. If only Clara could think of a way to make him feel better about it because his guilt was entirely unnecessary even though he didn't know that.

Yet another part of her was beginning to feel a little wary. They had been dating for a while. Shouldn't the Doctor tell her when he had kissed another woman? Clara really wasn't sure about that. Maybe he assumed that her sister should be the one to confess the little misstep?

“So, uhm,” she began carefully, trying to gently push him in the right direction, “you went to the school ball last weekend, didn't you? How did your daughter like it?”

The Doctor's head shot around and for a moment, he looked terrified as if Clara already knew what had happened – which, of course, she did, because she had been there. Oh dear, this was getting too complicated.

“She didn't like it so much,” he replied carefully. “Well, not the ball itself, but there was a bit of a situation.”

Clara frowned at him in reply. “What kind of situation?” she asked.

The Doctor inhaled deeply before he started telling her the story that she already knew because she had witnessed it, but at least as Bonnie, she could tell him that he had done well by roughing him up just a little. As the boy's teacher, she couldn't have condoned it.

“I think you did the right thing,” she told him eventually. “Sounds like the boy acted like a real jerk. Bet he won't do that again soon.”

The Doctor scoffed softly. “I just hope he's staying far away from my daughter from now on,” he said. 

She chuckled in response. “Oh, I don't doubt that for a second.”

When the Doctor fell silent again, she knew that she would have to act or the awkwardness would last all evening and Clara really wasn't keen on that. Instead, she put her cup aside and scooted over until she could lean her head against his shoulder.

“This is perfect,” she said with a sigh. “Cold October evening, nice man to curl up next to.”

Finally, the Doctor chuckled. “You just want me for my body heat,” he remarked jokingly. “I'm feeling a little exploited.”

In response, Clara craned her neck and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, the only part of his face that she could reach from there. “Better?” she asked hopefully.

At last, he turned his head and gave her a proper kiss. “Much better,” he replied as he leaned back against the sofa. Clara followed his example, determined to not think about the previous weekend for the rest of the evening.

“Start the movie,” she told him and when the Doctor did as he was told, she nuzzled her cheek against his arm. She would enjoy this evening no matter what.

* * *

The Doctor knew that he had to act. He couldn't deal with the guilt forever and he had to do something about it even though he wasn't quite sure what. Clara had kissed him and he had kissed her back in his confusion because, if he was entirely honest, he still couldn't tell them apart. On Monday, he had come to the conclusion that it was up to Clara to tell her sister or not tell her, but to determine what the better option was, he would have to have a conversation about it with Clara. Strangely enough, she had been on his mind for over a week now and he found it odd that she seemed to occupy just as much space in his head as Bonnie did. The Doctor wasn't sure what that meant, but he would never find out unless he talked to her about their little encounter during the school ball.

On his way to pick Rosie up from school where he would finally get a chance to talk to Clara, the Doctor decided to stop at a supermarket to get a couple of groceries because he still had time to kill and he didn't want to spend it pacing the school corridor in front of his daughter's classroom. After getting the milk and sugar he had come for, the Doctor browsed through the shop, adding crisps and a chocolate bar to the cart even though he didn't actually need them. However, as he turned around the corner, the Doctor suddenly stopped.

The woman had her back turned towards him, but he still recognized the small shape and the colour of her hair and his heart suddenly skipped a beat when he realized that either he had run into Bonnie or his talk with Clara would come a little sooner than he had expected.

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Uhm, Miss Oswald?” he asked carefully because he figured it was the wisest approach. If it was Bonnie, they would laugh about his confusion and if it was Clara, he wouldn't embarrass himself.

The woman turned around and for a moment, she didn't seem to be sure who had spoken to her. It was as if she didn't even see him or as if she didn't want to see him. From one moment to the next, the Doctor knew that he wasn't in the presence of Bonnie.

“Miss Oswald, I need to talk to you for a moment,” he said and he tried to smile at her, but the corners of his mouth only twitched nervously.

The woman opened her mouth to reply, but the response wasn't the one he had expected. “I have to go,” she uttered quickly and placed the yoghurt back on the shelf before she spun around and headed towards the exit.

For a moment, the Doctor considered following her because they desperately needed to talk and he wasn't quite sure what held him back except that he felt like the woman he had just seen was neither Bonnie nor Clara. He felt more confused than ever.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your lovely, excited comments :) How about we cause a little more trouble here?

The Doctor exhaled sharply before he stuck his head through the crack in the door. He spotted Clara at her desk and she was so immersed in her reading that she hadn't noticed him yet. Yesterday, the Doctor had chickened out after their strange encounter at the supermarket, so he decided to give it another try. They just had to talk even if he dreaded the conversation, otherwise, he would never find peace. Carefully, he cleared his throat. Clara lifted her head and it was obvious from her expression that she hadn't expected it.

“Can I come in?” he asked carefully.

“Uhm, you just missed Rosie,” Clara replied in an instant. “She just left with her friend.”

The Doctor granted her a smile. “Rosie and her friend are waiting in the car,” he said gently. “I was actually hoping to talk to you.”

Clara didn't seem surprised, instead, she gave off the impression that her worst fear had come true, but she still nodded in his direction and rose from her chair when he entered.

Once the Doctor had reached her, he took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. Last night, the conversation had gone really well. In his head. But now, as he was standing right in front of her, the Doctor suddenly wasn't sure what to say anymore.

“So, uhm, you seemed in a hurry at the supermarket yesterday,” he remarked. It was meant as an icebreaker, but it seemed to have quite the opposite effect.

“The supermarket?” Clara asked, giving him a slightly puzzled look.

“Yeah, well, I said hi and you just turned around a left, so I assumed-” he broke off. This was more awkward than he had imagined. “Nevermind.”

“Yeah, you're right,” she said after a moment. “In a rush.”

Clara walked to the front of her desk and sat down on top of it and the Doctor decided to follow her example. At least while they were sitting side by side, he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. Maybe it would make the following conversation a little easier.

“Well, uhm,” he paused, “I suppose we should talk. . . about what happened at the ball.”

“I told you,” Clara's reply was instant. “I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise.”

Even though his initial thought had been to better not look at her at all, his curiosity finally won and the Doctor turned his head. Yet Clara's gaze was lowered to her own two feet.

“Why did you?” the Doctor wanted to know. “I mean, why did you kiss me? You know that I'm with your sister. Why?”

When Clara hesitated for a moment, he thought that there was something she wanted to say but never did. “I don't know,” she said instead. She turned to meet his gaze and he thought he could see the same kind of confusion in her eyes that he currently felt. Suddenly, the Doctor felt sorry for asking. “It was on the spur of the moment, okay? I didn't think. I just. . . I just wanted to.”

In response, the Doctor knitted his eyebrows at her. He had never been a womanizer and he had always considered himself lucky when a woman actually managed to see something in him. Two at once, that was something new, something terribly confusing.

“You were so sweet with Justin and I realized that you're probably a great father and a lovely person and I. . . I don't know what came over me.”

The Doctor inhaled deeply and he felt relieved that it seemed something as simple as a mood, something that he could handle, something that probably wasn't going to happen twice. But there was more that they needed to discuss.

“I saw Bonnie last weekend and I wasn't sure how to react,” he confessed. “I didn't know whether you had told her, whether you wanted to tell her, whether I should be the one to do it and I just felt extremely guilty. What do you think?”

“About what?” Clara asked, frowning.

“Should I tell her? Do you wanna tell her?” he enquired.

She seemed to consider it for a moment, but eventually, Clara shook her head. “There's no need, I think. I mean, it was only a kiss and it's not gonna happen again. Besides, Bonnie slept with one of my ex-boyfriends, so she still owes me for that.”

The Doctor's eyes widened in response and Clara quickly added: “Way back, at uni.”

After a moment, his features softened a little and he even began to chuckle. He could only imagine the kind of mischief the twins had been up to during their university years and he was glad that he had never been on the receiving end of one of their pranks or tricks.

“I'm glad we could clear this up,” he said after a moment. “Because Bonnie means a lot to me and I'm sure you have a nice man waiting for you at home.”

From one moment to the next, the expression on her face changed. There was a smile at first, but it faded rather quickly. The Doctor wanted to ask because somehow, he cared about her, but he didn't feel like it was his place to know. Yet to his surprise, Clara started talking of her own accord.

“I used to date a colleague a couple of years ago,” she admitted.

“It didn't go well?” he asked cautiously.

Clara turned her head and granted him a soft but sad smile. “He was killed in a car accident.”

It wasn't what the Doctor had expected and upon hearing these words, he somehow felt the strong urge to comfort her. Yet he couldn't think of the right words and he doubted that those even existed. “I'm sorry.”

Clara smiled at him again and then shrugged. “I wasn't as lucky as Bonnie to find someone like you,” she said. “Not yet.”

It was stupid. No, it was downright insane and the Doctor was fully aware of it. He couldn't possibly do what he wanted to do and yet before he could get himself under control, the Doctor leaned forward, slowly, carefully as if giving her a chance to pull away. Clara didn't, so he brought their lips together in a kiss. The Doctor was kissing his daughter's teacher, he was kissing the sister of the woman he was dating, the woman he was in love with and it was at that moment that he realized he might be a little bit in love with not just one but both sisters. And how could he not when they were exactly alike.

No one pushed the other away this time, no one broke the kiss until they ran out of air and when they finally parted, the Doctor didn't run away and neither did Clara. Instead, he smiled at her. She smiled back.

“You're an amazing woman, Clara Oswald,” he told her in a soft voice. “You'll find someone.”

She merely nodded when the Doctor rose from the desk and started to leave. A part of him was hoping that she would try to stop him, that she would say something, anything to make him stay, but instead, she let him walk out of the room. This time, the Doctor didn't even feel confused. He knew exactly that he had feelings for both of them and he had no idea what to do about that.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is falling in love with two women, Clara wants to confess. But will she really?
> 
> Thank you so much for the sweet comments :)

_Dear Doctor,_  
_I know you're probably very confused why I'm writing you a letter. Maybe it'll even give you a bit of a scare, but please, read on. Sit down in a comfortable chair and take a moment to read what I have to say to you._

_Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. Well, not entirely bad. Maybe a little bit, but I'll leave that up to you to judge. There is something that I've wanted to tell you since our second date, but I could never find the courage to do it. The more time passed, the longer I kept postponing it, the more afraid I was of how you were going to react once you knew the truth, but before I make my confession, there are a couple of things I would like you to know._

_First of all, I'm in love with you. I know, it's something that should be said face to face, but in my case, I think it's better to write it down because of what's going to follow. If I look at you, I know I will never find the courage and this way, there won't be a chance for me to chicken out once I've handed the letter over to you. I still don't know what you're going to say and I hope that my fears are unfounded, but if they're not, I just want you to know that I've enjoyed every second that we spent together. I don't think I've ever met a man quite like you and I don't think there's a second one out there._

_Now, my confession. Which is actually a bit of a long story. My twin sister and I have always liked to switch places every now and then. It's a game that started during our childhood and we kept it alive even as adults and now, it has become a bit of an addiction because I feel so much braver when I pretend to be my sister, Bonnie. Yes, that's right. I know it's going to be a bit of a shock to you, but it's the truth. I'm Clara Oswald and I have always been Clara Oswald. That evening I met you at the bar, I introduced myself as Bonnie because I find it so much easier to talk to men when I know I'm not the teacher, when I know I'm never going to see them again. With you, it didn't turn out quite as planned because I think I fell a little bit in love with you during our first night together and I just had to see you again. But how was I going to explain to you that my name isn't actually Bonnie? We had only just met and I was afraid to ruin it, so I decided to wait. And then I met you again – at the parent-teacher evening._

_I need you to know that I never intended to hurt you or play a silly, childish game with you, but I didn't know what else to do. You are my student's father and I know your daughter is more important to you than anything else. I was afraid that I would lose you because dating a teacher might be against your rules. So I kept the game going because above all else, I wanted to be with you._

_I know that what I did was wrong and that you might never forgive me, that you won't want to date your daughter's teacher which is a pretty legitimate reason to break off our relationship, but if there's still a tiny chance that you can forgive me, that your daughter will accept our relationship, then I want you to know that nothing would make me happier. I've waited too long to tell you the truth because I was afraid. I was afraid to lose you because I love you._

_Clara._

 

When the car door opened, Clara quickly folded up the letter and shoved it back into the envelope and when she looked up, the Doctor had already sat down in the passenger seat and was smiling at her. Her heart was hammering inside her chest and her hands instantly pushed the letter back into her purse. She would give it to him later tonight, not immediately. Right now, she didn't have the courage to do it.

Clara had spent over an hour going over every single word and still, she didn't think she had written down everything she wanted to say to him, but she simply couldn't think of anything else anymore. It was honest and stripped down to the plain truth. Everything he needed to know was in that letter now and all she really had to do was to give it to him.

“I'm starting to feel like a bad boyfriend,” the Doctor remarked after he had given her a peck on the lips.

“Really?” Clara asked and her voice was shaking a little. “How so?”

He chuckled. “Because you always pick me up, never the other way around.”

Clara smiled at him in return, knowing that it was because she couldn't tell him where she actually lived because, during the first night, she had taken him to Bonnie's place. “I'm a control freak,” she argued instead. “I like being behind the wheel myself.”

The Doctor laughed at her in response and leaned back into the seat. Clara noticed with relief that he had given up the fight. “Well, if that is so, I should know better than to argue with a control freak.”

 

The drive to the cinema wasn't as easy and quiet as she would have liked it to be. There was a traffic jam and Clara remembered why she hated driving around London so much and it occurred to her that it was her own fault that she got stuck at every single traffic light because, if she had told him the truth about herself, the Doctor could have picked her up at her own place. She really had no reason to complain about a situation she had gotten herself into. Hopefully, this stupid game would be over soon.

Nevertheless, they made it to the cinema at last and while the Doctor picked up their tickets, Clara inspected the movie posters on display. There was one that she was sure Bonnie would like and she made a mental note to treat her sister to a nice evening as a way of saying thank you after she had finally told the Doctor the truth. If it went well, Clara would have a reason to celebrate. If it went badly, she could do with some cheering up.

“Ready to get our snacks?” the Doctor asked excitedly and when Clara turned around, she could see his face light up at the prospect of food. 

Chuckling, she went on tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. “Why are you always hungry?” she asked him once their lips parted.

In response, the Doctor smiled at her and before Clara knew what was happening, he had closed his arms around her back and pulled her against his chest. “I could be persuaded to forgo the food if I get an adequate alternative.”

“You mean kisses, right?” Clara asked, followed by a surprised squeal when he suddenly bent down and kissed her again, more eagerly than she had kissed him. As their lips touched, Clara could feel her determination to tell him tonight fade away more and more. She was in love with him and all she wanted was to be with him. Maybe she should reconsider telling him tonight? Make up her mind after the movie?

When the Doctor came back up, Clara smiled at him. “So, snacks? Come on, I wanna get a good seat.”

However, the Doctor's focus seemed to lie elsewhere as his eyes were fixed on a spot behind her and so Clara turned around and looked to see what was holding his attention. For a moment, she thought she was looking into a mirror, but it soon dawned on her that it wasn't her own but another all too familiar face she was staring at.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me give you guys a huge group hug (or blow you a kiss cause it's too hot for hugs right now) for the lovely comments :)
> 
> Now, time for the big reveal. . . how is the Doctor going to react?

The first thing the Doctor felt was confusion. He was holding Bonnie in his arms and looking at her at the same time. Only the other woman wasn't Bonnie and the longer he stared at her, the more apparent it grew. There was something about the way she moved, about her posture, about the expression on her face that didn't fit at all. The only reasonable explanation was that it was Clara, but he knew her and the other woman wasn't his daughter's teacher. Something was terribly wrong and suddenly, he felt a weird, strangling sense of doom that was beginning to creep up inside his head. It was as if his intuition had figured it out long before his brain had. Instinctively, he took a step back.

As the Doctor turned to look at Bonnie, he saw the same sentiment displayed so plainly on her face as well and he felt as if he should know what was happening, but he really, really didn't.

“What's going on?” he asked carefully, and his question was directed at both of them. Not just Bonnie looked startled, the other one, whoever she was, seemed more than a little surprised to see them here as well.

Finally, Bonnie turned around and smiled at him. There was a sudden nervousness to her that gave the lie away before she had even told it. “It's Clara, my sister, you've met her,” she explained and her smile only widened.

Yet all the Doctor could do was frown as he looked at the strange woman again. “No, it's not,” he said cautiously as if still fearing he was wrong even though he knew that he wasn't. “That's not Clara Oswald. I know her and that's not my daughter's teacher.”

For a moment, he thought that she had been lying to him all along. That the woman he had been dating for months was the same woman he had kissed in the school classroom because how else could they be so much alike, but that didn't make any sense at all. Then again, what did in this huddle?

It was the other woman who finally walked up to them, a light smile on her lips as she extended her hand towards him in greeting. “You must be the Doctor,” she said. “My sister has told me a lot about you.”

The Doctor shook her hand absent-mindedly and if he had needed any more proof that she was neither his girlfriend nor his daughter's teacher, that was it. Even though the resemblance was uncanny, this was a whole different person and it was the same one he had spotted at the supermarket the other day. Still, it didn't make sense.

“I don't understand,” he said softly and turned towards Bonnie once again only to find that she was avoiding her gaze.

The other woman chuckled and nudged his girlfriend. “I don't want to say _I told you so_ , but I definitely told you so.”

“Shut up, Bonnie,” his girlfriend hissed towards her sister and it seemed that there was no end to his confusion tonight.

 _Bonnie._ The Doctor's frown deepened.

“Why are you calling her Bonnie?” he wanted to know.

She opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out of it and it was then that the Doctor realized what was happening. It didn't make sense, but he finally saw what he had been trying very hard not to see. The woman he had met by chance at a bar one night, the woman he had been seeing for months and his daughter's teacher were the same person. He really didn't know what to think right now, but it was beginning to feel like he had been living in a big, fat lie for months.

“I should leave you to talk,” the other woman said and the Doctor assumed that she was the actual Bonnie or the actual Clara. He really wasn't sure of anything anymore. She left them on the corridor and the Doctor was starting to become aware of all the other people in the cinema that were walking past them, but they didn't matter right now. All he cared about was the truth.

He looked at the woman in front of him – Bonnie, Clara, whatever she was called – and he wondered if she had always been so small or whether she was shrinking with the wall of lies that was beginning to crumble around her.

“I'm sorry, Doctor,” she whispered and looked up at him. Her gaze was apologetic alright, but an apology wasn't what he wanted right now. He only wanted to know the truth. “I swear, I've been meaning to tell you for a long time, but I didn't know how.”

“Tell me what?!” he barked and he was surprised at how sharp his voice was. He hadn't meant for it to come out like that, but he was feeling angry. She had lied to him for months for reasons that still eluded him.

Again, she opened her mouth, but the Doctor cut her off before she had the chance to say anything.

“Who are you?!” he demanded to know. “Bonnie? Clara? Are you triplets? What's going on?!”

“I'm Clara,” she blurted out and stepped forward, trying to touch him, but the Doctor avoided her. He needed answers first. “I've always been Clara. I know, I should have told you a long time ago, but-”

The Doctor didn't even hear the rest because his thoughts, the turmoil in his head drowned out everything else. If she had been Clara when they met, why hadn't she said so? Why had she introduced herself as Bonnie? If she had been Clara when he had first met her at school, she should have told him, she should have said who she was. But then what would he have done? The Doctor couldn't say. But if she had been Clara when he kissed her in the classroom, she should definitely have told him. None of this made any sense to him at all except for the reason why he thought he was in love with two women – because they were actually the same person. He felt a brief surge of relief when he realized that he had never cheated on anyone by kissing his daughter's teacher. But Rosie had seen it, hadn't she? She hadn't been fooled by Clara's lie, had she?

“Please, just let me explain,” Clara pleaded and when she looked at him, a part of him couldn't bear to look back. Not now. Not while his head was such a mess.

“I need to go,” he said before his mind had even come to the conclusion. The Doctor needed time. He needed to think. He needed to make some sense of all of this and he couldn't do it here.

Slowly, as if in trance, as if all of his energy was directed at solving this situation in his head, the Doctor started to move. He turned around and walked towards the exit and he was only vaguely aware that Clara was following him. Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Doctor, please, just listen to me,” she begged him and the despair was audible in her voice. He wanted to tell her that he would call, that they would talk about it sooner or later, that he had to figure this out for himself first, but he couldn't. He couldn't even find the words.

“I, uhm,” he stammered instead, only throwing her a brief glance, “I have to go.”

When he left the cinema, Clara made no further attempt to follow him and he was glad of that. He really just needed some time to himself right now and come to terms with the fact that the woman he loved had lied and tricked him for months.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is out, the Doctor is sulking. . . how can they possibly turn things around?
> 
> Thank you guys so much for your sweet comments and I hope you'll enjoy the penultimate chapter :)

When he had still lived with his ex-wife, Missy had repeatedly told him that the toaster didn't need wifi and there was no point in remote-controlling it with a phone, but the Doctor had disagreed. Who wouldn't want a remote-controlled toaster? Luckily for the Doctor, Missy no longer lived with him and he was free to tinker with whatever household appliance he liked. He just needed something to do because the alternative was thinking about what had happened with Bonnie – or Clara.

The Doctor understood it now – at least partially. When he had met her at the bar, he had met Clara and she had introduced herself as Bonnie for whatever reason. Maybe she had already known that his daughter was going to be one of her students, maybe it had been a practical joke, he wasn't sure about that part. What he was sure of was that Clara had lied to him for months about who she actually was and he was sort of hoping for a hole to open up in the ground and swallow him because he didn't want to deal with the consequences of this dilemma. After he had kissed who the Doctor had assumed was her twin sister, the entire situation had become nothing but humiliating and he wasn't sure when he would be ready to look at her again.

He also wasn't sure what bothered him most. The fact that Clara had kept the game going even though there had been so many opportunities to tell him the truth? She could have said something during their second date or at the parent-teacher evening or when they had kissed in front of the gym, but she hadn't. Or was it the fact that he was still in love with her even after everything she had done?

“Ouch,” the Doctor cursed loudly when his screwdriver slipped and grazed his finger, leaving a nice, long scratch along its length. He shook out his hand and then brought the wound to his mouth, sucking the blood from it before it stained his workbench. Then, he started to look for what had distracted him and soon found the culprit in the shape of his daughter's robot dog.

“Is everything alright, Master?” the dog asked in its usual, robotic voice.

With a sigh, the Doctor sank back into his chair. “Did Rosie send you to check on me?” he asked, the annoyance audible in his voice even though the robot would never be able to pick up on that.

“I don't understand the question,” K-9 replied. “Mistress sent me to tell you a joke.”

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. “A joke?”

“A father is washing his car with his son. After a while, the son asks: Dad, why aren't we using a sponge?”

Told by a human, the joke might have been funny, but the monotonous voice of the dog brutally murdered every last bit of humour in it. The Doctor didn't laugh. Instead, he raised his head towards the door where his daughter was standing, watching him.

“I thought it was funny,” Rosie argued as she made her way towards the workbench. She waited for him to see whether he might protest, but when the Doctor said nothing, his daughter pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, giving K-9 a reassuring pat on the head before it went into standby mode.

The Doctor became increasingly aware that his daughter was watching him intently and he knew that the question was soon to follow. He wasn't yet sure whether he wanted to answer it.

“You came home early last night,” she began carefully.

The Doctor said nothing.

“And you skipped breakfast. Went straight to your workshop and you took the toaster.”

“I'm improving it,” he explained. “I was considering a remote-control function.”

Rosie chuckled. “That's a bit rubbish, isn't it?”

In response, the Doctor glared at her. “Do you want me to compare you to your mother?”

“No, thanks,” Rosie remarked with a shrug. “But you can tell me why your date failed. I mean, I'm assuming that's why you're sulking in your workshop and torturing our toaster.”

Groaning, the Doctor sank back in his chair. “I don't wanna talk about it,” he replied gruffly and hoped that Rosie would leave it because he really didn't feel like admitting that he had unknowingly dated her teacher for several months.

“It's Miss Oswald, isn't it?” his daughter asked regardless. “You finally realized that it's her.”

In an instant, he sat back up and looked at Rosie for a long moment. He wasn't entirely sure how she knew or whether she had known all along. Was he really so blind that everyone, including his teenage daughter, has seen through Clara's lie except for him?

“How did you know?” the Doctor asked and he realized that he sounded a little more desperate than he would have liked. “When you saw her the other night, you knew, didn't you? You knew even though I told you it was her twin sister?”

His daughter shrugged softly and granted him an apologetic smile. “You've never been the most observant person, Dad.”

Again, he uttered a groan. “I should have seen it,” he said more to himself than to anyone else. “I should have noticed it.”

“So, uhm,” Rosie asked carefully, “are you gonna stop seeing her?”

The Doctor scoffed. “Isn't that obvious? I mean, you will hardly tolerate that I'm dating your teacher.”

“I've tolerated it so far,” she replied.

For a moment, the Doctor wasn't sure whether he had heard her correctly and he needed a moment to let her answer sink. Was she actually okay with it? Would she allow him to date Clara even though she would see her at school every single day? The Doctor wanted to believe it, but he just couldn't.

“You mean-”

“Yes, Dad,” Rosie replied in an impatient manner, “if you wanna go out with Miss Oswald, that's fine. I mean, at least it's not Miss Quill or some weirdo like Mum's new boyfriend.”

“And that wouldn't bother you?” the Doctor asked once again just to be certain. He still couldn't quite believe it.

Rosie shrugged. “If you marry her, she will no longer be allowed to teach me.”

“Okay, hold your horses,” he replied. “We're far from getting married.”

Most of all because she had lied to him for months and he hadn't yet decided whether he would forgive her for that. Should he just forgive her and act like nothing had ever happened just because Rosie didn't mind?

Then, to his surprise, his daughter started to smile. “I actually think it's kinda cool. I mean, I doubt Miss Oswald would give me special treatment, but you could try to make her tell you the essay questions in advance,” she said excitedly.

The Doctor laughed softly, but the smile soon faded from his lips when he remembered why he was sulking in his workshop. “She lied to me,” the Doctor explained sadly. “She told me her name was Bonnie and that she was Clara's twin. I'm not sure what to think about that or why she felt the need to do it in the first place.”

“My guess is that you won't know unless you ask her,” she replied.

Again, the Doctor couldn't help but laugh. “Excuse me, are you trying to set me up with your English teacher?”

The smile was back on Rosie's face in a matter of seconds. “Just think about the look on Mum's face when she finds out and she only has the idiot.”

“You're evil,” he chuckled. “I didn't raise you to be evil. Now go to your room and think about. . . your evilness.”

Laughing, Rosie jumped up from her chair and darted off in the direction of the door. “And you should call Miss Oswald,” she said before she left his workshop.

The Doctor's gaze trailed to his phone and when he unlocked it, he indeed found several missed calls from Bonnie and it occurred to him that he should probably change her contact name. However, he decided not to call her. At least not yet. First, he needed to be sure what exactly it was that he wanted.


	33. Chapter 33

Clara knew that it was probably best to give the Doctor some space after the recent revelation and if she could turn back time, she would go back to the day she had met him and introduce herself as Clara Oswald. Maybe he would never have gone out with her again after finding out that she was his daughter's teacher, but at least she wouldn't have lied to him for months. She would have had better chances as she had now.

However, giving him space meant that she would have to face Rosie tomorrow morning and knowing their relationship, the Doctor had probably confided her in. And above all, she just needed to know where she stood, so Clara found herself in front of his door on Sunday morning. She rang the bell before the courage left her.

For a while, nothing happened and Clara already considered the possibility that they weren't at home at all or that they knew it was her and wouldn't open up because of that. However, after a minute, the door was opened and Clara was surprised to find Rosie on the other side.

“Oh, uhm, hi,” Clara stammered nervously and somehow managed to muster a smile. She hadn't expected to talk to Rosie first. “Is your father at home?”

“Why?” the girl enquired. “Am I in trouble at school?”

“No, not at all,” she replied instantly and uttered a laugh. “School is, uhm, you're doing great. That last essay was an A.”

There was an odd expression on Rosie's face that Clara interpreted as confusion and she couldn't blame the girl because what reason would her teacher have to show up at her house on a Sunday.

“I need to talk to your dad,” Clara explained and finally, the expression on Rosie's face lifted and the girl started to laugh. Now it was up to Clara to be confused.

“I know, he told me,” the girl replied. “I was just, you know, teasing.”

Clara breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that apparently, Rosie wasn't all too mad at her. It lifted her hopes that the Doctor wouldn't be either.

“He's in his workshop, improving the toaster,” Rosie explained and waved her inside. “Follow me.”

“Improving the toaster?” she asked carefully while she followed the girl into the house.

“Don't ask,” her student said.

 

A few moments later, they stopped in front of the door that she knew led to the Doctor's workshop and now, Clara could feel her courage wavering. She hadn't prepared for this sort of conversation, not really, and she wasn't sure what she would say to him if he even decided to listen to her. Yet when Rosie left her alone, Clara knew that she had no other choice but to knock.

“Come in!” the Doctor called from the other side. He sounded busy. Maybe she should come back another time? No, it was silly. The sooner she talked to him, the better.

Carefully, Clara opened the door and stepped inside. The workshop hadn't changed at all since the last time she had been in here and she doubted that it ever would. It was same organized chaos that she had loved since the first time she had seen it.

The Doctor didn't turn around, instead, he remained focused on the toaster in front of him and Clara realized that Rosie hadn't lied even though the reason for a toaster improvement still eluded her.

“You didn't send the robot to tell me a joke again, did you?” the Doctor growled, his attention still entirely devoted to the toaster. “Cause I told you, I don't wanna be cheered up.”

Despite her nervousness, Clara couldn't help but smile at the idea of his daughter sending him the robot dog to cheer him up with jokes. “Can I have a go at cheering you up?” she asked carefully.

The Doctor spun around in an instant and she wasn't sure whether he was just surprised or genuinely shocked to see her here.

“Rosie let me in,” she explained.

With a heavy sigh, the Doctor dropped his tools and turned around with his chair and he seemed somehow in between looking straight at her and avoiding her gaze as if he couldn't quite decide what he wanted to do.

“What are you doing here?” he asked eventually, the defeat audible in his voice.

Clara gave a soft shrug. “I came to apologize,” she said quietly. “I wanted to explain it.”

“What makes you think I wanna hear your explanation?” the Doctor barked at her in response and for a moment, Clara was a little taken aback by the harshness of his voice. Then again, she had hurt him, hadn't she? She had lied to him for months and tricked him in the worst of ways.

Not knowing what else to do, Clara reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter she had written a couple of days ago, the letter she had meant to give to him. Now, it seemed, it was almost too late. But instead of handing it over, she unfolded the pages and started to read it out loud.

“Dear Doctor, I know you're probably very confused why I'm writing you a letter. Maybe it'll even give you a bit of a scare, but please, read on. Sit down in a comfortable chair and take a moment to read what I have to say to you,” Clara began and she looked up to see that the Doctor seemed mildly confused, but he was still sitting down and listening to her. His face seemed almost curious now and since he didn't stop her, Clara decided to continue.

“Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. Well, not entirely bad. Maybe a little bit, but I'll leave that up to you to judge. There is something that I've wanted to tell you since our second date, but I could never find the courage to do it. The more time passed, the longer I kept postponing it, the more afraid I was of how you were going to react once you knew the truth, but before I make my confession, there are a couple of things I would like you to know.

“First of all, I'm in love with you. I know, it's something that should be said face to face, but in my case, I think it's better to write it down because of what's going to follow. If I look at you, I know I will never find the courage and this way, there won't be a chance for me to chicken out once I've handed the letter over to you. I still don't know what you're going to say and I hope that my fears are unfounded, but if they're not, I just want you to know that I've enjoyed every second that we spent together. I don't think I've ever met a man quite like you and I don't think there's a second one out there.”

Clara came to a stop and looked at the Doctor once again and for a moment, she thought she had seen a hint of a smile on his face. However, it faded quite quickly when he noticed that she was looking at him. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she hadn't finished yet. The worst was still to come.

“Now, my confession. Which is actually a bit of a long story. My twin sister and I have always liked to switch places every now and then. It's a game that started during our childhood and we kept it alive even as adults and now, it has become a bit of an addiction because I feel so much braver when I pretend to be my sister, Bonnie. Yes, that's right. I know it's going to be a bit of a shock to you, but it's the truth. I'm Clara Oswald and I have always been Clara Oswald. That evening I met you at the bar, I introduced myself as Bonnie because I find it so much easier to talk to men when I know I'm not the teacher, when I know I'm never going to see them again. With you, it didn't turn out quite as planned because I think I fell a little bit in love with you during our first night together and I just had to see you again. But how was I going to explain to you that my name isn't actually Bonnie? We had only just met and I was afraid to ruin it, so I decided to wait. And then I met you again – at the parent-teacher evening.

“I need you to know that I never intended to hurt you or play a silly, childish game with you, but I didn't know what else to do. You are my student's father and I know your daughter is more important to you than anything else. I was afraid that I would lose you because dating a teacher might be against your rules. So I kept the game going because above all else, I wanted to be with you.

“I know that what I did was wrong and that you might never forgive me, that you won't want to date your daughter's teacher which is a pretty legitimate reason to break off our relationship, but if there's still a tiny chance that you can forgive me, that your daughter will accept our relationship, then I want you to know that nothing would make me happier. I've waited too long to tell you the truth because I was afraid. I was afraid to lose you because I love you.”

Once she had finished, Clara lowered the letter and looked at the Doctor. He still sat in the exact same spot and hadn't moved. Even the expression on his face remained exactly the same and by now, Clara was growing a little nervous. Shouldn't he at least say something? She didn't even care what it was, whether he forgave her or threw her out, she just needed the Doctor to say something, _anything_.

“So, uhm,” she continued, stammering a little without the help of her pre-written apology, “that's it. That's the truth. I wrote that letter a few days ago and I was meaning to give it to you the night we met Bonnie.”

“That's a bit late, isn't it?” the Doctor remarked. “I mean, only a couple of months, but still-”

“I know,” Clara replied hastily and took a step in his direction. “And I'm sorry. I really am. I was stupid and a coward and I would completely understand if you said you never wanted to see me again.”

“I never said that,” he replied, but even though his words were positive, his voice was still ice cold. “But I asked you to give me time.”

Clara inhaled deeply and then nodded. “Even if you somehow find it in your heart to forgive me, I know that I'm still Rosie's teacher and I would understand if you wanted to stop seeing me.”

To her surprise, the Doctor suddenly rose from his seat and stepped forward, closing the distance between them until she could almost reach out and touch him. She wanted to, but she knew that he wouldn't appreciate that right now.

“That is up to Rosie to decide,” he said after a moment. “But the thing is, I'm confused.”

Again, Clara nodded. “Of course. I lied to you, I pretended to be someone I'm not.”

“I thought I was falling in love with two different people,” the Doctor suddenly admitted. “We were dating, I was loving every second of it and suddenly, there was Rosie's teacher and I felt strangely drawn to her to the point that I kissed her. I've never been that sort of man and I didn't know how to feel about it, but the truth is that I fell in love with both.”

“We're the same person!” Clara argued instantly.

“Exactly,” the Doctor replied and Clara wasn't sure what was happening, but suddenly, he started to laugh. When he glanced up at her, there was something shy and boyish about the way he looked. “That's my point exactly.”

Clara didn't understand what was happening. She didn't know whether it was good or bad or maybe both, but she needed to find out what he was on about.

“What are you saying?” she wanted to know.

The Doctor took a deep breath and took one last step forward before he placed his hands on her upper arms. “I'm in love with you, too,” he admitted. “I've been in love with you for quite a while and I was struggling to understand why I was feeling that way for both of you. Now I know why.”

Under different circumstances, these words would have made her heart leap with joy, but right now, Clara just couldn't feel happy, knowing that her happiness could start to crumble at any given moment.

“But I lied to you,” she said. “And then there's Rosie.”

“Rosie is fine with it,” the Doctor explained nonchalantly and shrugged. Then, a smile appeared on his face. “We talked and she has sort of known since she saw you here that night. She doesn't mind.”

“I still lied to you,” Clara argued.

Slowly, the Doctor nodded. “You did.”

Clara took a deep breath. She still didn't know where this conversation was headed. “So, uhm, what are we gonna do about that?”

She uttered a sound of surprise when the Doctor suddenly bent down and placed a short, soft kiss on her lips before he pulled away again. The kiss was so brief that for a moment, Clara thought she had only imagined it, but it still managed to silence her.

“You could try to make it up to me,” the Doctor suggested and winked at her.

It was then that it finally dawned on Clara. Rosie didn't mind them being together. The Doctor was probably still mad, but he loved her enough to give her another chance and that was all she needed. A second chance to do it right this time. In response, Clara started to beam at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered and she was hoping that her gratitude was showing. “That means a lot to me.”

“So, uhm, are you free for lunch?” the Doctor asked.

In response, Clara raised her eyebrows at him.

“I promised Rosie that we could go to McDonald's,” he said. “Alright, I'm too lazy to cook today, so I told her we're going. Would you like to join us?”

Still, she wasn't entirely convinced. “You mean you, your daughter and her English teacher?”

He shrugged, followed by a smile. “I think you'll find that Rosie is quite a fan of us.”

“I'm not giving her the essay questions in advance if that's what she's hoping for, tell her that,” Clara reminded him, but still, she couldn't help but smile at him in return. “But you're right. McDonald's seems casual enough for a test drive. What about the toaster though?”

Clara nodded in the direction of the object that had probably once been a kitchen appliance, but it no longer bared any resemblance to a toaster at all.

The Doctor made a dismissive gesture. “Rosie was right. It's a rubbish idea. Now, come one, let's go! I'm hungry,” the Doctor said excitedly and gave her another short kiss before she could feel him tug at her hand.

“You're always hungry,” she chuckled in reply and allowed the Doctor to pull her out of the workshop and back into the main house.

She wasn't quite sure why it had been so easy, why he hadn't just banned her from his life forever after all the lies she had told him, but maybe it was just like the Doctor had said. They had fallen in love and maybe that was the only thing that really mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so, so, so much for all your kudos and amazing comments! I know I'm rubbish at replying to every one of you personally because I usually read them in the morning before heading to work and I keep meaning to write a reply later and never doing it, but I want you to know that every single one of them makes me incredibly happy and brings a huge smile to my face! Thank you for your continuing support!!! It really means a lot to me that three years later, you're still interested in Whouffaldi stuff!
> 
> As for the next story, that will go public shortly and some of you will already have seen my Tumblr and Twitter posts about it, to stay tuned for a Crime AU adventure :)


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